Life's Golden Lamp 



jFor Datip £)ebottcmal mz. 



A TREASURY OF TEXTS FROM THE VERY 
WORDS OF CHRIST 



WITH COMMENTS THEREON BY AS MANY MINISTERS OF THE 
GOSPEL AS THERE ARE DAYS IN THE YEAR ; AUTOGRAPH 
OF EACH CONTRIBUTOR; SUGGESTIVE SCRIPTURE 
HEADING AND APPROPRIATE LINES 
FROM FAMILIAR HYMNS. 




REV. R. M. OFFORD. 




RIGHT ' 



NEW YORK: 



NEW YORK OBSERVER, 
37 and 38 Park Row. 
1889. 




©mfawt'ta Stress: 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



HE peculiar features of this work would surely justify 



many daily text books in existence as there are. These 
features are apparent ; and the constant use of the book 
will be likely to commend them more and more. 

The words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ furnish 
a text for each day of the year. Three hundred and 
sixty-five ministers of his gospel have paid tribute to their 
Master and rendered service to his people by their effort 
to emphasize and enforce his gracious sayings. May 
their reward for this service so cheerfully contributed be 
from the Master himself and be rich and abundant ! 
Many denominations and various parts of the world are 
represented. Each contributor has signed his name to 
the material furnished by him, and the autographs have 
been faithfully reproduced by photography. 

A stanza of poetry, generally from some familiar hymn, 
and as far as possible in harmony with the text and the 
comment, has been added, while each page opens with a 
suggestive heading. These headings, though invariably 
portions of Scripture, are not taken from the words directly 




even though there were ten times as 



iv 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



spoken by the Saviour. The Epistles furnish many of 
them, while others have been selected from the Old Testa- 
ment. The common English version has been drawn 
upon for all the texts and headings. A reference to the 
headings and their context will help to bring out the 
delightful harmony of Scripture. 

An index at the close of the book will enable the 
reader to ascertain the particular church affiliations of 
each contributor. 

It is hoped that Christians the world over may find the 
book to be a means of grace, and that the years as they 
pass may bring it an ever widening circle of readers. 
May the Lord whose words are the vital portion of the 
book grant that as these are read from day to day in its 
pages, they may not return to him void ! 

The task of selection, compilation, correspondence,, 
and editing involved has been one of great joy. Though 
the work may not be the box of spikenard, exceeding 
precious, broken over the Master's feet, may he graciously 
regard it as a cup of cold water tendered his disciples 
" in his Name ! " 

Decembee, 1888. 



THESE SAYINGS OF MINE. 



This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him. 
Matt. xvii. 5. 

Whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak 
in my name, I will require it of him. — Deut. xviii. 19. 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 
John vi. 63. 

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 
I will liken hi?n unto a wise mail, which built his house upon a rock: 
and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and 
beat 7ip07t that house ; a7id it fell not : for it was founded tip07i a rock. 
Matt. vii. 24, 25 

The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will 
se7id i7i my 7tame. he shall teach you all things, and b7'i7tg all thi7tgs 
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. — John 
xiv. 26. 

God, who at sundry times a7id i7i divers manners spake i7i time 
past uftto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoke7i 
unto us by his S071. — Heb. i. 1, 2. 



Vi 



THESE SAYINGS OF MINE. 



Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things 
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. — 
Heb, ii. i. 

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth. — Luke iv. 22. 

For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 
Matt. vii. 29. 

Grace is poured into thy lips. — Psalm xlv. 2. 

Never man spake like this man. — John vii. 46. 

Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life. — 
John vi. 68. 

How sweet are thy words unto my taste ! yea, sweeter than honey 
to my mouth ! — Psalm cxix. 103. 

Lord, evermore give us this bread. — John vi 34. 

O send out thy light and thy truth : let them lead me. — Psalm 
xliii. 3. 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. — 
Psalm cxix. 105. 



LIFE'S GOLDEN LAMP. 



3Let tje tooortr of <£{mst titoell m gott rtcfjlg in all tofstiom. 

Colossians iii. 16. 



January i. 



2H)e true Itgf)t nofo sfjmetJj, — i John ii. 8. 

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. — 
John ix. 5. 

THIS is one of those I ams peculiar to John's gospel, by 
which Jehovah revealed himself through the manhood 
of Christ, even as he showed himself to Moses at the bush. 

" That which doth make manifest is light ! " So Christ 
has revealed to us what, but for him, we had not known. 
By that one utterance to the woman at the well, " God is a 
Spirit," etc., he has told us more concerning the spirituality, 
the unity, and the fatherhood of God than the wisest of 
ancient philosophers had reached. By his sacrifice of him- 
self upon the cross for the sins of the world, he has forever 
met the need which men were seeking to satisfy by the offer- 
ing of bulls and goats upon the altar. By his resurrection 
from the dead and ascension into glory, he has brought life 
and immortality to light, and illumined for us the darkness of 
the future life. Nor is this all ; everything that has bright- 
ened human life in the individual heart, in the family, in so- 
ciety, and in the nation has come from him. Truly this 
"light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to be- 
hold " this sun. Let us therefore walk in its brightness, for 
he that followeth that " shall have the light of life." 



I heard the voice of Jesus say, 

" I am this dark world's light. 
Look unto me ; thy morn shall rise, 

And all thy day be bright." 
I looked to Jesus and I found 

In him my star, my sun ; 
So in that light of life I walk, 

And glory is begun ! 




H. BONAR. 



January 2. 



Wiz prearf) Christ cntctfirt*. — 1 Cor. 1 23. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into 
the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth 
much fruit. — John xii. 24. 

HOW true this utterance in its application to him who 
gave it ! He spake as never man spake, and lived as 
never man lived ; yet his ministry was by no means fruitful. 
Crowds hung upon his lips, but their attachment was short- 
lived ; and when he was put'upon trial, few or none stood 
by him. Almost literally the corn of wheat abode by itself 
alone. But after the Saviour's death, at the first proclama- 
tion of the gospel on the day of Pentecost, three thousand 
souls were added to the Church, and on subsequent days 
"multitudes, both of men and women," — so that the cruci- 
fied Saviour was more effective than the living Jesus. The 
blood of the cross is the great secret of awakening, conver- 
sion, and holy living. 

How true is the saying in regard to all the followers of 
the Lord Jesus ! Sacrifice is the indispensable condition of 
success. We must renounce in order to prevail. He that 
seeks his life loses it; he that loses his life finds it. One 
must sow in tears if he would reap in joy. Master and 
scholar have the same experience, — that suffering is re- 
quired in order to fruitfulness and victory. It is the furnace 
that purifies and renders efficacious ; the spices must be 
bruised to bring forth their fragrance. Happy they who 
recognize this law of the divine economy, and are content 
to suffer if only they may be made to bear much fruit ! 

Faithful cross ! above all other, 

One and only noble tree ! 
None in foliage, none in blossom, 

None in fruit, thy peers may be. 

J. NEALE (Translation). 



January 3. 



|ge sfjall finli rest for gout scute- — Jer. vi. 16. 

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest, — Matt. xi. 28. 



1 of mind or tired of soul ! Every one has a burden to 
carry, if not on one shoulder, then on the other. In the far 
East water is so scarce that if a man owns a well he is rich ; 
and battles have been fought for the possession of a well of 
water. But every man owns a well, a deep well, — a well of 
tears. Chemists have tried to analyze a tear, and they say it 
is made of so much of this and so much of that, but they miss 
important ingredients. A tear is agony in solution. But by 
divine power it may be crystallized into spiritual wealth, and 
all burdens may be lifted. God is the rest of the soul that 
comes to him. He rests us by removing the weight of our 
sin, and by solacing our griefs with the thought that he 
knows what is best for his children. A wheat-sheaf cried out 
to the farmer, " Why do you smite me with that flail ? What 
have I done that you should so cruelly pound me ? " But 
when the straw had been raked off the wheat and put in the 
mow, and the wheat had been winnowed by the mill and had 
been piled in rich and beautiful gold on either side the barn 
floor, then the straw looked down from the mow and saw the 
reason why the farmer had flailed the wheat-sheaf. 



" Come unto me," — O precious words 

I hear the Saviour saying ! 
He calls the weary ones to rest ; 
He calls the toil-worn and oppressed ; 

He calls the lost and straying. 

" Come unto me/' — O gracious words 

Such tender love displaying ! 
Dear Lord, I come — no merits mine — 
I come to trust thy love divine ; 
I come thy call obeying. 




Multitudes tired of body or tired 




R. M. OFFORD. 



January 4. 



Stomntci . . . fcoxtfj tfje |^clg (gipst ant fottfj 
poincr* — Acts x. 38. 



77/^ Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anoiiited me to 
preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, 
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, 
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of 
the Lord. — Luke iv. 1 8, 19. 

" T3 Y their fruits ye shall know them " is the test which our 
J3 Lord asked to have applied to himself. When John 
was in prison and wondered whether Jesus was indeed Mes- 
siah, no direct answer was given. The messengers were kept 
near to Jesus for a time and then sent home with the com- 
mand to tell what they had seen, from which John was to 
answer his own question. The Master applied this prophecy 
to himself and asked the people to believe he was Messiah, 
not because of what he said, but because of what he did. 
The best evidence of Christianity is what it does for human- 
ity. Wherever there is good news for the poor, hope for the 
broken-hearted, deliverance for captives, a better physical life 
for the masses, there the Spirit of God is at work. The glory 
of Christ is that he saves men body and soul. Christianity re- 
peats the claim of its Founder ; it appeals for acceptance, not 
to any authority, but to a new life which has come to the world 
since the Advent. The Spirit is doing the same work through 
the Church that it did through Christ. Love and service 
for the children of God always follow the indwelling of the 
Spirit of God. 





Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace ! 
Hail the Sun of Righteousness ! 
Light and life to all lie brings, 
Risen with healing in his wings. 



C. Wesley. 



January 5. 



3n inheritance . ♦ . tijat fa&etfj not afoag, — 1 Peter i. 4. 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasitre hid in a field; 
the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth 
and selleth all that he hath, a?id buyeth that field. — Matt. xiii. 44. 

IF our Lord calls the kingdom of heaven a treasure, what 
an unspeakable treasure it must be! In Romans 14, 17, 
the Holy Spirit through Paul tells us what the kingdom of 
heaven is. It is " righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the 
Holy Ghost." Just as there is a mutual indwelling between 
Christ and the believer, — he dwelling in Christ and Christ 
dwelling in him (John vi. 56), — so the Christian dwells in the 
kingdom of heaven, and yet the kingdom of heaven is in him. 
It is a treasure of protection around him and a treasure of 
experience within him. 

When a poor sinner finds this heavenly treasure, he gives 
up everything to be fully possessed of it, for all else is of no 
account in comparison. It is alliance with God. It is to be 
partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4), to be partaker of 
God's holiness (Heb. xii. 10). For the " righteousness " is 
God's righteousness (Romans x. 3), the " peace " is God's peace 
(Phil. iv. 7), and the " joy " is the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ 
(John xv. 11), all given by the Holy Ghost. 





He feeds in pastures large and fair, 
Of love and truth divine ; 

O child of God, O glory's heir, 
How rich a lot is thine ! 



Lyte. 



January 6. 



555Re fofjtri) fjabe fcelte&eti bo enter into test, — Heb. iv. 3. 



Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your 
hearts ? — Luke xxiv. 38. 



TROUBLED by reason of their unbelief ! How it resisted 
the testimony of those who had seen the risen Christ 
and yielded not, though he himself stood before them and 
spoke to them in tones of wonted greeting ! " Terrified and 
affrighted " even in the presence of him whom they loved ! 
Their minds were disturbed by " reasonings," — intellectual 
doubts as to the reality of his resurrection, and the fulfil- 
ment of. his promise. Their unbelief, so obstinate and un- 
yielding, may serve to establish our faith in their subsequent 
testimony, but brought to them only distressing unrest. 

Intellectual doubt destroys the peace of the soul. We 
walk by faith, not by sight. Yet he who believes is more 
likely to see than he who believes not. Faith in God, in the 
certified truths of the gospel, in his promises, and in his over- 
ruling providence, brings rest. God reigns ! Not a sparrow 
falleth on the ground without him. His kingdom is sure to 
come in spite of all obstacles. The darkest experiences are 
but the appointments of his infinite wisdom, and in the midst 
of them he will manifest himself. In every garden of Geth- 
semane an angel ; in every lonely chamber the risen Saviour ! 
Do not question, but trust. Be not troubled, only believe. 



/"C ' lAsuvy fat. /xfcvyz 



While looking to Jesus, my heart cannot fear, 
I tremble no more when I see Jesus near ; 
I know that his presence my safeguard will be, 
For " Why are you troubled ? " he saith unto me ! 

J. N. Darby. 



January 7. 



(goti sfjall fotpc arrjag all trars from tfjn'r egeg*— Rev. vii. 17. 

Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. — 
Matt. v. 4. 

THE Master, when he said this, was fulfilling the proph- 
ecy. — i; He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted" 
(Isaiah lxi. 1). He was speaking in the same line as when 
he said. " Come unto me. all ye that labour and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest ! " (Matt. xi. 28). 

The words reach beyond the mourners simply over sin. 
They indeed are blessed in their consciousness of pardon 
and safety, but there is more than that here. He, the infi- 
nite Saviour, came to bring the kingdom of heaven, God's 
reign in the soul. That is a kingdom of peace. The be- 
liever comes to him and is blessed in the coming. He comes 
with his heart borne down with earthly sorrow. Where else, 
to whom else in all the world can he go ? Earth cannot help 
him. He comes to a sympathizing Saviour (Heb. iv. 1 5). and 
he is in a place of calm. He hardly knows why or how. 
but peace and rest are in his heart, and they are blessedness. 

That is for to-day. But the "shall be " looks forward to a 
time when God shall wipe all tears away (Isaiah xxv. 8 : Rev. 
vii. 17; xxi. 4). The anticipation of future blessedness 
touches and lightens the present sorrow. 



I 've welcomed tears e'er since the day 

I saw that by and by 
God's own dear hand will wipe away 

The tears from ev'ry eye ; 
And I have learned to welcome grief, 

For grief doth bring me grace. 
I would not know the Lord's relief. 

Had woe with me no place. 




R. M. Offord. 



January 8. 



82Rf)at00ebet ts born nf (8db obercometf} tfje foorltr. 

i John v. 4. 

7<? him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is 
in the midst of the paradise of God. — Rev. ii. 7. 

HEREIN is Paradise regained ! What was lost through 
the transgression of the first Adam is restored through 
the obedience and sacrifice of the second Adam, — the Lord 
from heaven. How inspiring to those who seek for glory 
and honor and immortality is this assurance of an eternity 
of blessedness in the presence of God himself ! — for heaven- 
ward our best hopes tend. 

We need, however, to be constantly reminded that it is 
through conflict we pass into this blessed inheritance. There 
is a victory to be won, — the victory over a sinful heart 
within, and a sinful world without. For this we need the 
whole armor of God (Eph. vi. 10-17), that with a steadfast, 
abiding faith, a faith that overcomes the world, we may 
attain eternal felicity through him who loved us and gave 
himself for us. The conflict may be long continued; but at 
last we shall be able to raise the glad shout of triumph, " O 
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ ! " 



Look up, ye saints of God ! 

Nor fear to tread below 
The path your Saviour trod, 

Of daily toil and woe. 
Wait but a little while 

In uncomplaining love; 
His own most gracious smile 

Shall welcome you above. 




H. w. baker, 



January 9. 



OEfjat ts tfjg petition? . . . it gljall be granted tljee. 
Esther vii. 2. 

# shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and 
it shall be opened unto yon. — Matt. vii. 7. 

IN this most wonderful of sermons there are few words more 
wonderful ; but disciples of Jesus verify them daily. " I 
love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my suppli- 
cations. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore 
will I call upon him as long as I live." Asking, seeking, and 
knocking are the ways in which we reveal our desires ; and 
desire is the key of heaven. " Blessed are they which do 
hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled." 
We cannot refrain from asking for whatever we truly desire. 
We cannot keep from seeking what we know to be infinitely 
precious. We are sure to knock at the door which is between 
us and the object of our warmest affections. Father, I ask for 
thy loving-kindness, which is better than life. Son of God, I 
seek for thy grace, which in weakness makes me strong. 
Holy Spirit, I knock at the door which is always opened to 
the humble and the contrite heart. May all thy mercies and 
my infirmities constrain me to ask without ceasing until thou 
hast given, to seek without fail until I have found, to knock 
without fear until it has been opened unto me ! 




What various hindrances we meet 

In coming to a mercy-seat ! 
Yet who that knows the worth of prayer, 

But wishes to be often there ? 

COWPER. 



January io. 



2H)e Spirit flf ILiiz. — Romans viii. 2. 

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hear est the sound 
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so 
is every one that is born of the Spirit. — John iii. 8. 

WIND, though invisible, is a tremendous power, moving 
commerce over the seas, bringing winter and sum- 
mer, and mingling the germs of vegetation which cover the 
world with beauty. We see the effects, and know a few laws 
of the wind's action. Disregard of those laws involves dis- 
comfort, disaster, disease, and death. 

The Chinese say wind is the key to nature. According 
to their Fung-Shway doctrine, the science of meteorology 
involves all knowledge. 

Thus, but above all superstition, is the work of the Holy 
Spirit. His being and activities are full of mystery, yet 
their presence and power are felt in imperial sway by un- 
told millions. Knowing God through the Spirit is entrance 
upon all knowledge. Born of the Spirit, mere existence has 
become life. Hitherto becalmed and drifting helplessly, we 
now full our sails and move forward. All the beauties of the 
revolving seasons come to the soul. Years that were a desert 
are now a paradise of Christ-like sacrifice and heavenward 
preparation. Unbelief is a vacuum which the Holy Spirit 
cannot enter. Violation of the laws of the Spirit involves 
sorrow, ruin, and despair ; but trustful obedience, that stum- 
bles not at the mysteries of the Infinite, insures peace, pros- 
perity, and eternal joy. 

Eternal Spirit, we confess 
And sing the wonders of thy grace ; 
Thy power conveys our blessings down 
From God the Father and the Son. 
Thy power and glory work within, 
And break the chains of reigning sin, 
All our imperious lusts subdue, 

And form our wretched hearts anew. watts. 



January ii. 



(grttfie not tfje ^olg Spirit of (Stits. — Eph. iv. 30. 

Whei'efore I say unto you, All 7?ianner of sin and blasphemy shall 
be forgiven tinto men : but the blasphe?ny against the Holy Ghost 
shall not be forgiven tinto men. — Matt. xii. 31. 

\\ 7"HILST all sins are mortal unless expiated and re- 



pented of, we are to beware of one that is so pecu- 
liarly virulent as to leave no room for repentance. The 
blood might cleanse it if applied ; but the blood will never 
reach it, as it is beyond the jurisdiction of grace. Prayer 
for it is as unavailing as if offered for the impenitent dead, 
or for the conversion of Satan. It is like a disease from 
which no patient has ever recovered. 

Whether the Pharisees had committed this sin, or were only 
forewarned of their peril, we are not informed. Perhaps no 
mere man can ever in this life be sure that his case is beyond 
hope. But as this sin is directed against the person and 
operations of the Holy Ghost, the terrible warning is still 
in season. We should fear to condemn a work because it 
fails to satisfy our prejudices or our sectarianism. Whilst 
professing to be only criticising human methods, we may 
be passing judgment on the Spirit, condemning his work 
as excitement and delusion, and ascribing it to Beelzebub. 
Our opposition may be in varying degrees, from mere grum- 
bling to extreme blasphemy or persecution ; but it is always 
mischievous in its effects and perilous to our souls. 



Holy Ghost, with light divine, 
Shine upon this heart of mine ; 
Chase the shades of night away ; 
Turn my darkness into day ! 



Cast down every idol throne, 





Reign supreme, and reign alone ! 



A. Reed. 



January 12. 



En inborn I am faell pleased — Matt. in. 17. 

For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that 
himself doeth : and he will shew him greater works than these, that 
ye may marvel. — John v. 20. 

' I ^HE Father loveth the Son even as he loveth himself. 



1 One with him in essence and attribute, and at one with 
him in purpose and operation, the divine Father has loved 
his divine Son from the innermost eternity with infinite 
affection. From the Son of his bosom the Father has no 
secrets. He unveils to his Well-beloved the whole counsel 
of his will : and the Son comprehends all his intentions, 
coincides in all his purposes, and co-operates with him in all 
his actings. The works of the Father, existent in design 
from eternity, are executed, one after another, in time, through 
and by the incarnate Son in his official character of media- 
tor. The successive disclosures of divine purpose are caused 
to progress from the great to the greater in ever-increasing 
majesty and glory, in order that those who witness them may 
man-el, — for though they may not constrain to faith, they com- 
pel wonder. This marvelling will attain its climax when the 
great works of Christ shall have reached their culmination 
in the final quickening of the dead and the last judgment. 
Then they who have recognized him as the Son of God shall 
be excited to a joyful ecstasy on being raised to eternal life, 
while those who have been wilfully blind to his sonship and 
Saviourhood shall be overwhelmed with everlasting dismay. 
" Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish ! " 





Behold your Lord, your Master, crowned 

With glories all divine, 
And tell the wondering nations round 

How bright those glories shine. 



Anne Steele. 



January 13. 



P^ofo gfjall foe escape, tf foe negleet so great saltation? 

Heb. ii. 3. 

Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the 
mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and 
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at 
the day of judgment^ than for you. — Matt. xi. 21, 22. 

THE sinner to whom no opportunities of repentance come 
is lost. Tyre and Sidon stand in the text as the ter- 
rible examples whose judgment measures the intolerable. 
But of how much sorer punishment is he worthy who has 
trodden under foot the Son of God ! The sinner to whom 
opportunities come but pass unheeded, has his part in the 
more intolerable lot of Chorazin. Tyre and Sidon are cities 
in Satan's land; Chorazin and Bethsaida are Satan's strong- 
holds, which he can trust to fortify themselves against every 
approach of the Saviour, and to repel his every advance. 
God grant that we have not Chorazin hearts ! 

How infinitely solemn a crisis the gospel brings to every 
city, household, life, to which it gains access ! A sweet sa- 
vor of Christ unto God, it is in all ; but to one it is a savor 
from life unto life, to another a savor from death unto death. 
What a spectacle of mercy and judgment ! Alas to us who 
have seen these mighty works, if they remain to us but a 
spectacle without us, and not a living power within ! 





Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? 
Can my God his wrath forbear, 



Me, the chief of sinners, spare ? 



C. Wesley. 



January 14. 



tUjcu art mg portion, © ILotlu — Psalm odx. 57. 

i?/// is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part, 

which shall not be taken away from her, — Luke x. 42. 

DO not let me judge Mary lazy. She has done her work 
and " left" Martha to the cumbrous sen-ice she did not 
" choose v to do. Surely the Master had not favored ne- 
glected duty. Work we must, and that hard, for what- 
soever our hand findeth to do. we must do it with our might. 
But let me never lose the one thing needful by choice, for 
that was Martha's fault Martha chose excess of sen-ice. 
Mary chose "the one thing needful." 

Every day brings its own cares and duties : every day. like 
Paul himself, we must sene God "with many distractions : " 
but amid them all. like him. we must be able to say. " This 
one thing I do ... I press toward the mark." 

Pause. O my soul, and consider ! What life am I choosing? 
Fretful, irritable, do I make my much service an excuse for 
neglecting prayer and praise and God's word ? That is 
Martha, — blamed. Calm, tranquil, do I do what I can in 
this life, yet careful to serve God always " with a quiet 
mind"? 'That is Mary. — praised. What shall I do to-day 
and always ? 



Grant, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful 
people, pardon and peace, that we may be cleansed from all 
our sins and sene thee with a quiet mind, through Jesus 




0 &rtSL?L*^ 



Christ our Lord ! Amen ! 



Collect. 



Give me a calm, a thankful heart. 

From every murmur free ; 
The blessings of thy grace impart, 

And make me live in thee ! 



Steele. 



January 15. 



23mtgf)t fattfj a price : tfjrrrforr glottfg (Soli* — 1 Cor. vi. 20. 

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye 
be my disciples. — JOHN xv. 8. 

MEET for use " seems to be the language of everything 
God has created. The Christian is no exception to 
this law. He. like the Master, is to be among men - as one 
that serves.*' Fruit-bearing is the sign of a thrifty life. By 
it the disciple knows he is abiding in Christ, and through it 
he brings help and cheer to others. "Much fruit," — it is 
the hope of this poor sinning world. There are so many 
needing help, opportunities for serving are so numerous, that 
only they who abound in good works fulfil the divine ex- 
pectation. A true Christian should resemble a fruit-laden 
tree. We are taught here that God does what we are 
prompted to ask for in Christ's name, to the end that we 
may be useful, and because of our gracious attainments, 
beautiful. We become disciples by thus bringing forth fruit. 
Thinking Christ's thoughts, asking for things in his name, do- 
ing his will, and ministering through what we are, and by 
what we do. to others' good, we attest our discipleship. All 
forceful life springs out of union with Christ. We need not 
bring forth the self-same fruit, for the Father is glorified, not 
so much in the kinds of fruit, as in the all-essential fact that 
we are fruitful. Let each disciple serve in his or her own 
way. for it is the service that blesses. Fruit of every kind 
stands in evidence that we are rooted in Christ, and because 
of it is the Father glorified. 



Long as I live beneath, 
To thee, oh, let me live ; 

To thee my every breath 
In thanks and praises give. 

Whate'er I have, whate'er I am, 

Shall magnify my Maker's name. 




C Wesley. 



January 16. 



STritfjer tyzu galbatton in ang otT^er* — Acts iv. 12. 

/ the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the 
Father, but by vie. — JOHN xiv. 6. 

THE heading of this chapter is, ' ; Christ comforteth his dis- 
ciples : " and truly he gives the best comfort simply by 
telling about himself. The first verse begins, Let not your 
heart be troubled/' This verse seems to say to doubting 
Thomas, " Let not your mind be troubled." It is a release from 
perplexity. Heaven often seems distant and unknown, but if 
he who made the road thither is our guide we need not fear to 
lose the way. We do not want to see far ahead, — only far 
enough to discern him and trace his footsteps. Christ does 
not give us the full revelations of God and heaven at once ; 
we could not bear them now. He gives us himself, and in 
that gift everything is secure. If you own the mines you will 
not lack treasure. If the fountain is yours you will have water 
day by day. Our peace lies not in believing much, but in be- 
lieving well. If our faith in him is unwavering he will return 
it with knowledge. The way to escape from doubts is to 
think about Christ. What we need is not explanation, but 
confidence. Sometimes we know not what to believe, but al- 
ways we know whom we have believed. Religion is not a 
theory, nor a doctrine ; it is the coming of a person to a per- 
son, by a person. They who follow Christ, even through 
darkness, will surely reach the Father. 



I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou 

Should'st lead me on ; 
I loved to choose and see my path ; but now 

Lead thou me on. 



Keep thou my feet ; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene, — one step enough for me. 

cardinal Newman. 




January i 7. 



©0 it {jeartflg, as to tije ilorti. — Col. Hi. 23. 

Verily I say auto yon, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than 
all they which have cast into the treasury : for all they did cast in of 
their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had y eve?i 
all her living. — Mark xii. 43, 44. 

THIS incident of the third day of the Passion Week of 
our Lord suggests or vivifies many truths. It illustrates 
the thought that the apparent insignificance of our service 
makes the doing of it the more significant. It makes plain 
that Christ values our service, not by reason of its intrinsic 
merit, but by what it costs us. It shows that Christ sees and 
appreciates our service, though he may speak to us no word 
of commendation. It has for us a lesson of faithfulness in 
things secret. " The gods see it," said the Greek sculptor as 
he carved the part of the statue that was to be hidden from 
men's eyes. It teaches the duty of giving with each gift — 
ourselves. It proves that God is the supreme being to whom 
all service is to be given. The divine and not the human 
represents the ideal of humanity. This incident thus illus- 
trates not a few of the truths of the atonement of him " who 
gave himself for us." 

We give thee but thine own, 

Whate'er the gift may be ; 
All that we have is thine alone, 

A trust, O Lord, from thee ! 

w. w. HOW. 



January 18. 



Set gout affection on things abate. — Col. Hi. 2. 

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the 
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfnlness of riches, 
citoke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. — Matt. xiii. 22. 

HERE is a call to early soul-culture. The thistles from 
which our Lord fetches his illustration grow rapidly 
and in wild profusion on all ploughed fields of Palestine, 
springing up, however, after the wheat, which when white and 
dry and seen from a distance, they closely resemble. With 
these thistles, therefore, which all ploughed land bears, the 
wheat if it be late sown will have sore struggle for any 
vigorous and fruitful life. 

We are thus taught to have divine truth timely sown and 
well advanced in the soul before the summer heat, so getting 
start of the weedy growths of our maturer years, — life's mid- 
summer. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of 
riches, which deplete the soil, outcrowd and overtop the 
tenderer and too late sown plant, destroying its worth and 
fruitfulness. 

We should claim, seize, and improve for Christ first op- 
portunities. The opening spring ought to find us before- 
hand with the weeds, early at work in our own heart's garden 
and the hearts of others, especially the young, getting start 
of the Devil by preoccupation of the soul for God. 

Perhaps this opportunity may come to me to-day. The 
Lord help me to improve it, and forbid that either cares or 
riches choke his word ! 

Almighty God, thy word is cast 

Like seed into the ground ; 
Now let the dew of heaven descend 

And righteous fruits abound. 

Cawood, 



January 19. 



£ fcnofcj tfjat mg Erteemer Itbetfj, — Job xix. 25. 

iv^r ; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and 
was dead; and, behold, I am alive, for evermore, Amen; and have 
the keys of hell and of death. — Rev. i. 17, 18. 

A SOLEMN exultation burns along these words. Each 
throws its light on some dark place in our thoughts, 
our lives. 

L " Fear not." Why should we fear? If Christ be the 
First and the Last, that secures that all between goes well. 
He is beginning and end, — " author and finisher." A strong, 
all-including hand bears us along, its grasp stronger than 
death, because it is the grasp of Life. " Fear not ! " 

II. '-The 'Living One' was dead." How came one 
who was Life to die ? Saint John, to whom these words were 
spoken, well knew, for he was with him in Gethsemane and 
at Calvary. So the reddened door opens into Atonement. 
Life was also Love, and therefore died for us. Now, he is 
" alive forevermore " to apply the atonement which he has 
made. On his work we may now rest in peace. 

III. He holds in his imperial grasp the "keys." What 
are keys for? There is but one answer, — to lock in. and to 
lock out. O child of God, you cannot die until the time 
comes ! You are locked out of your grave, and Christ has 
the key. No fierce disease or cruel accident can swing the 
door and thrust you in untimely. The key is in Christ's 
hand. He and he only can use it. 



The First Begotten of the dead, 
For us he rose, our glorious Head, 

Immortal life to bring ; 
What though the saints like him shall die? 
They share their Leader's victory, 

And triumph with their King ! 




Kelly. 



January 20. 



carrtlj for gflU, — 1 Peter v. 7. 



Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye 
shall eat, or zvhat ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye 
shall put on. Is not the life more than ??ieat, and the body than 
raiment ? Behold the foivls of the air : for they sow not, neither do 
they reap, nor gather into bams ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth 
them. Are ye not much better than they ? — Matt. vi. 25, 26. 

" HPAKE no thought " (Revised version, " Be not anxious "), 
J. which means do not worry ; and the reason is, you 
have a heavenly Father who can and will provide. What- 
ever betide, we must not lose confidence in God. When 
Abraham departed from the home where he expected to 
spend his old age, and turned his face toward the unknown 
scenes of Canaan, God said, " Fear not, I am thy shield," 
and this same "fear not," like a soothing refrain, purls to the 
end of Holy Writ. 

The world tries to cast away care. Hence the endeavor to 
drown it in pleasures, to neutralize it by absorption in busi- 
ness, to amuse it with the aims of ambition. But care thus 
cast away, often returns like a boomerang. Scripture tells 
us, " Cast thy burden on the Lord, he shall sustain thee." 
The care is a care. Often it is a painful reality. We must 
have prudent thought about temporal affairs, and about our 
families. Scripture has no encouragement for lazy people, 
but it abounds in consolation for the toiling children of men. 
Now the true course is, not to cast away that care, but to 
consign it to God, who is as deeply interested in the objects 
of our care as we are ; whose wisdom will direct what is 
best for them, and whose power can secure the accomplish- 
ment. Cares tend to crossness. Let us sweeten each cup 
of bitterness by some promise of our heavenly Father. 




The birds without barn or store-house are fed ; 
From them let us learn to trust for our bread. 



Newton. 



January 21. 



Jrmt ttjat mag afrounti to gout account — Phil. iv. 17. 

that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much : 
and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore 
ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mam?non, who will com- 
mit to your trust the true riches ? — Luke xvi. 10, II. 

TRUE riches!" Then there are riches untrue, — false, 
delusive riches, riches that mock the hopes of men, 
bringing disappointment, care, hardness, greed, instead of 
the liberation and repose they promised. There are such ! 
Solomon describes them as winged. Jesus calls them deceit- 
ful. Paul pronounces them uncertain. But they have use. 
They are among those i; least " things which may prepare the 
way for nobler trusts. 

The chemical sunbeam, acting on the gross elements in 
the plant, produces color, fragrance, flavor, in flower and 
fruit; and the unrighteous mammon — wealth that has no 
moral worth and that tends so easily to evil — may be trans- 
mitted into the true riches of character, strength, achieve- 
ment, heavenly treasures, under the constant touch of the 
actinic ray of fidelity. 

All possessions are trusts, and all trusts are tests. The 
test both discovers the disposition and develops it. He who 
is faithful is advanced to larger service. He who is unfaith- 
ful is declared unjust ; he wrongs all, the Master most, him- 
self next : he is in danger of winning the curse of the fruitless 
fig-tree, the bitter doom of barrenness. The choice reward 
of faithful well-doing is increased opportunity to do good. 




Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to yield thee 

Gladly, freely, of thine own ; 
With the sunshine of thy goodness, 

Melt our thankless hearts of stone. 

Mrs. alderson. 



January 22. 



%z tfjat fjatjj tfje Son fjatfj life. — 1 John v. 12. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son 
of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth 
my fltsh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise 
him up at the last day. — John vi. 53, 54. 

THIS statement, so absolute, so authoritative, and so sol- 
emnly reiterated, was a fan with which the Saviour 
purged his floor. Many were so scandalized by it that from 
that hour they forsook him. So is it always. To declare 
in any age that for us sons of men there is no remission of 
sins, and no entrance into everlasting life apart from the 
death of the Son of man, is to rouse the repugnance of the 
natural heart. From the days of Cain, God's way of life 
by means of death has been an offence to many. Many 
also, like Abel, have by faith fed on the Lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world, and found his flesh meat in- 
deed and his blood drink indeed. Thus they received and 
nourished eternal life, and lived in hope of the resurrection 
of the just. 

How can I share this life, and attain to this resurrection? 
By no mastication of material elements, but by personal trust 
in an ascended Saviour. Jesus 1 words, being spirit and life, 
impart life wherever received. Hence his deepest complaint 
is, " There are some of you that believe not." He has the 
words of everlasting life. Here he speaks them. You may 
accept them ! You may reject them ! You cannot alter 
them ! 




Extol the Lamb of God, 

The all-atoning Lamb ; 
Redemption in his blood 

Throughout the world proclaim ! 

C. Wesley. 



January 23. 



$Ufoag tolt&ereti unto tieatf) for 3esus' sake. — 2 Cor. iv. n. 

He that loveth his life shall lose it ; afid he that hateth his life in 
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. — John xii. 25. 

OUR Lord describes the career and close of two kinds 
of life, of which one is to love the present world with 
its pleasures, which is deplorable loss now, and will, unless 
faith and repentance prevent, lead to the fearful perdition 
of "the second death." The other is to hate life in this 
world by denying ourselves those delights which war against 
the soul, and to bear without shrinking reproach and suffer- 
ing, to preserve the " inner man " unhurt and victorious. 

The extent of the eternal life promised to self-denying 
believers is beyond our grasp of thought. There are some 
hints of its nature in the words of Christ and his apostles, 
of which the chief is the enjoyment of the glorified presence 
of the Redeemer, and the attainment of the promised recom- 
penses of present sacrifices and faithful stewardship. Saint 
Paul's view of heaven was that of being with Jesus, while 
Saint John conceived eternal life to consist in being like 
him; and all who follow in their footsteps shall, after the 
wreck of all earthly things, escape with their life to the happy 
shore of perfect peace. They shall see him from whom shall 
flow those influences which shall change them " from glory 
to glory," and amidst the revelations of his love all life shall 
be Sabbath rest, all space temple, and all service adoring 
worship and praise. 




We are the Lord's ; then let us gladly tender 
Our souls to him in deeds, not empty words ; 

Let heart and tongue and life combine to render 
No doubtful witness that we are the Lord's. 

C. T. ASTLEY (Translation). 



January 24. 



SJEfjat fjast tfjou tfjat tfjott titbit not recetfae? — 1 Cor. iv. 7. 

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are 
commanded y oil, say, We are tinprofitable servants : we have done that 
which was our duty to do. — LUKE xvii. io. 

CHRISTIANS are at once sons and servants of God. 
This fact suggests the true measure of Christian merit. 
All ought to serve God ; but the obligations of a redeemed 
soul are peculiarly tender. God's claims upon his time and 
talent are such that he can do nothing above what is re- 
quired. None can put God under obligations. We are 
here warned against undue pride of achievement. Our best 
performance is imperfect. The servant's tasks are never 
finished. 

The remembrance of this necessity of work laid upon us 
prevents undue self-complacency. Duty is a reality. " Stern 
daughter of the voice of God, 7 ' says Wordsworth ; while 
Schiller affirms, "When duty grows thy law, enjoyment fades 
away." The Christian who takes this view will render a 
servant's obedience. Gratitude and love change drudgery 
to voluntary service, while duty 7 gives love character and lifts 
it above mere sentiment. Duty should be love's guide. 

Strength increases with the performance of duty. Thus 
the willing servant grows in capacity and usefulness. The 
Lord graciously accepts the loving duteous service of him 
who humbly acknowledges his own unworthiness. He who 
obeys in such a spirit is already a child of God, a joint-heir 
with Christ. 




When all is done, renounce your deeds, 
Renounce self-righteousness with scorn ; 

Thus will you glorify your God, 

And thus the Christian name adorn ! 

GIBBONS. 



January 25. 



Jtrst pure, tfjen peaceaMe*— James in. 17. 

Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children of 
God. — Matt. v. 9. 

HE who speaks this blessed loving text is God incarnate, 
God the Son, Jesus Christ, the only all-sufficient Sa- 
viour. In the economy of God he is the greatest peace- 
maker known to earth. For this peace he was - slain from 
the foundation of the world." For this peace, in God's love 
for the world, his only begotten Son was given. For this 
peace as the only able one. he made the only propitiation for 
the sins of the world, and thus bought us. one and all, and 
thus became as the God-man our Lord under the exaltation 
of God, who gave him a name above even- name as a reward 
of his infinitely humble, acceptable, and profitable work, that 
every tongue should confess Jesus Christ as Lord to the 
glory of God the Father. For this peace the Master sent 
his ministry forth and the Holy Ghost to bless them in the 
establishment of his Church for the salvation of men. For 
this peace he ascended into heaven to carry on his work in 
the presence of God, as the great Intercessor, with the marks 
of his love in his hands, with wounds in his feet, and with 
the open door in his side to his heart: and so he lives in the 
smile of heaven to the end of his mediatorial kingdom. 

And now as is the tree so are the branches and fruit : 
they cannot help being blessed. It is in the very nature of 
things in the providence of God. And so we naturally read 
our text and learn our lesson, each in our own degree, as we 
faithfully apply its use. 

How sweet, how heavenly is the sight, 

When those who love the Lord 
In one another's peace delight, 

And so fulfil his word ! 

Joseph swain. 



January 26. 



jjtuttful m e&erg poti tootfe. — Col. i. 10. 

Occupy till I come. — Luke xix. 13. 

ACTION! — not that of the soldier fired with conquest, 
but of the merchantman, cool in brain, shrewd in judg- 
ment, augmenting invested capital. " Occupy " — do business 
herewith — " till I come." The Christian life is a service of 
usefulness. Gratuitously, every believer receives his " pound," 
then comes responsibility ! An orthodox creed and a passive 
life may join hands. The mere culture of moods does as lit- 
tle for the soul as for the stock-market. Saved by faith, we 
must live by works ! Duty slurred over robs the gospel of 
its power and the disciple of his reward ! 

To occupy, we must have knowledge. My successful busi- 
ness friend knows what he is about. He who negotiates for 
God must know God's word ! Buoyant feelings are indis- 
pensable. The worried man falls out of the commercial 
arena. To win laurels in traffic, one must likewise curb his 
passions with bits of steel and reins of raw hide. " Whoso- 
ever will come after me, let him deny himself." We must 
die to the flesh to live to usefulness ! Behold, moreover, the 
steadfastness of duty. " Occupy " — not till acclaim ceases, or 
health loses its grip, but — " //// / come / " " He that endur- 
eth to the end shall be saved ! " 

Go, labor on, spend and be spent, 
Thy joy to do thy Father's will. 
It was the way the Master went ; 
Shall not the servant tread it still ? 

H. BONAR. 




January 27. 



gait tjatfj jje qutcfcenetu — Eph. ii. 1. 



Verily, verily ■, 7 jytj/ &7z/<? jtfz/, 77?^ >#0//r w coming, and now is, 
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that 
hear shall live. — John v. 25. 

WHO are the dead ? Alas, we know but too well ! Some 
of them have been carried from our homes. Their 
dust lies beneath the grass and the flowers in the cemetery. 
Their images haunt tenderly our memories. Their influence 
is woven, in many a golden thread, into our characters and 
lives. But these are not " the dead " of whom our Lord 
here speaks. He has reference to those who are " dead 
while they live," " dead in trespasses and sins," who have 
no perception of, or love for, or interest in, spiritual things, 
who do not "live unto God." Even heathen have had some 
perception of the possibility of spiritual death, present as 
well as future. "What," said Socrates to his disciples, — 
" what if some of those around us were already dead souls ! " 
It is a terrible thought that even in the midst of the life and 
beauty of the world, over a vast multitude of souls " death 
reigns," and corruption is creeping. It may be that we our- 
selves are spiritually dead, or little better. But "the hour 
cometh," it is not far away, it "now is," for the dead to 
arise. Already it is the resurrection morn. Even now the 
Son of God is calling, and all around us men are coming 
to life. " Now is the day of salvation." " They who hear 
shall live." But how can the dead hear? Because he who 
speaks to Lazarus at the same time gives him the power to 
hear, and to obey, and to " come forth." O thou who art 
" the Resurrection and the Life," dispose us to hear thy voice 
and awake from spiritual death to life eternal ! 




Oh, let the dead now hear thy voice ! 
Bid, Lord, thy banished ones rejoice ! 
Their beauty this, their glorious dress, 
Jesus, the Lord, our righteousness. 



J. WESLEY (Translation J. 



January 28. 



ruas manifest fn tlje fiesf).— 1 Tim. iii. 16. 

Believest thou not that / am in the Father, and the Father in me ? 
The wards that I speak unto you I speak not of myself : hit the 
Father that dwelleth in ??ie, he doeth the works. — JOHN xiv. 10. 

THE words and works of Christ were the words and 
works of God. We need not wait to prove the his- 
toric miracles which Christ wrought upon men's bodies. 
We have three greater miracles of his before us to-day. 
his matchless character, his matchless words, his matchless 
influence. — the miracle of a character too unique to be 
invented, too pure and mighty to be human: the miracle 
of teachings that the world's wisest men have almost uni- 
versally admitted to be not only unequalled, but unap- 
proached; the miracle of an influence upon individuals 
and nations greater than has been exerted by any other per- 
son that ever walked the earth. These present, indisputable 
evidences show that Christ is able as well as willing to save 
me and to save the world. 

Christianity is a science, not a dream, because it is estab- 
lished in part, like law and history, upon abundant and 
reliable testimony : in part, like gravitation and the round- 
ness of the earth upon a proved hypothesis that alone in- 
cludes and harmonizes all the facts ; in part, like medicine and 
chemistry, upon experiments and experience. Xo hypoth- 
esis but that of Christianity* explains how an unlettered 
carpenter of Nazareth has become the best known, the most 
beloved, and the most obeyed of any being " that e'er wore 
earth about him.' 5 But there is yet stronger evidence in 
experience. " Come and see ! " 

Show us thyself, for seeing thee 
Do we, dear Lord, the Father see ; 
In all thy words and works we trace 
The Father's heart, the Father's grace. 

R. M. OFFORD. 



January 29. 



yjaur labour is not m 6am tn tfje iLoriu — 1 Cor. xv. 58. 

J"^// ^£7;/^, o-^ t / and faithful servant : then hast been faithful 
over a few things, I will make thee ruler aver many things : enter 
thou into the joy of thy lord. — Matt. xxv. 21. 

GOD has the highest possible claim to our services, and 
his claim is universal and constant. Xo peculiarity 
of natural endowment, great or small, nor diversity of oppor- 
tunity or means of doing good, works any change in the 
matter of personal responsibility. All power and means 
of doing good are the gift of God. and to meet our obliga- 
tions all must be consecrated to his services. 

Christ teaches us that the grandest possibilities are wrapped 
up in every human life ; that by the right improvement of the 
talents given, be they ten or one, we shall by and by become 
rulers over many things and enter into the joy of our Lord ; 
that constant devotion to God is the true philosophy of a 
successful life : " For what shall it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul ? " Happy then the man 
who recognizes the will of God as the rule of his every-day 
life. It may, it will, require sacrifice, possible suffering, and 
failure in many worldly enterprises and prospects, but fidel- 
ity to God is assured success. To the faithful servant of 
God triumph is not far off. To-day improve the talents 
given; to-morrow the Master will say.' "Well done.'" for the 
Judge standeth at the door." 




Oh, may I, no longer dreaming, 

Idly waste my golden day, 
But, each precious hour redeeming, 

Upward, onward, press my way! 

H. BOXAR. 



January 30. 



(JHjrfet ts tfje zvto of tfje lain for xisbtzonmzw. 

Romans x. 4. 

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am 
not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till 
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from 
the law, till all be fulfilled. — Matt. v. 17, 18. 

HOW comforting are these words, which form a part of the 
Sermon on the Mount, in which our Lord sets forth 
the great principles of his kingdom ! He founded redemp- 
tion upon law as revealed to Moses and the prophets. Chris- 
tianity thus stands upon the bed-rock of revelation as made 
before Christ; and the living Church, by its very existence, 
confirms every " jot and tittle " of the Old Testament. Law 
is love working out the eternal plan of God ; its supreme, 
serene dominion over all things, material and spiritual, is the 
eternal repose of the universe. The gospel did indeed dis- 
place the types and shadows of the ceremonial only to reveal 
the grandeur of the moral law, as sunrise dispels the mists 
only to disclose more clearly the mountains, standing in all 
their rugged strength. There can in the nature of things be 
no redemption without law, no mercy without justice, no par- 
don without a stable throne ; only a sound ship can save 
the wrecked. But Christ's expiatory death exalted the law. 
God incarnate added to it a glory impossible to be derived 
from the legal obedience or sufferings of mere creatures. 
The cross shows the granite foundations of the divine gov- 
ernment in greater massiveness than they had before been 
seen. The heavenly hosts rejoice in obedience, as the plan- 
ets in their swift courses. Grace and law are parts of the 
same complete sphere. All the redeemed sing the song of 
Moses and the Lamb. 

But, fixed for everlasting years, 
Unmoved amid the wreck of spheres, 
Thy word shall shine in cloudless day, 
When heaven and earth have passed away. 

Sir Robert Grant. 



January 31. 



Efjtxt w no ruant to ttym tfjat fear fjmu — Psalm xxxiv. 9. 

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which 
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto 
you : for him hath God the Father sealed. — John vi. 27. 

WE must do work to live now ; we may so do it as to 
live forever. The body of Jesus was hungry for 
bread in the wilderness ; but his soul was more hungry for 
that which came into his life through " every word of God.' 5 
If we will, we may reap two harvests from every deed, — one 
in time, one in eternity. God has put the best things of 
earth right beside the path of duty, which leads to heaven ; 
so Jesus says, " Seek first the kingdom of God . . . and all 
these things shall be added to you." Not because of your 
work, but your childhood. The prodigal started home to 
get bread for his labor ; but he got the embrace, kiss, shoes, 
best robe, fatted calf, and father's heart, — not for his labor, 
but for his return to his father. As we lift life to God, we 
harmonize it with man. This wipes out " all inhumanity' to 
man," reconciles all capital with labor, does away with all 
oppression, and makes " the kingdom come and the will be 
done on earth as it is in heaven." Thus the poorest' task to 
human being given holds in it the possibility of an " heir of 
God, and joint heirship with Jesus Christ." The loneliest 
and most obscure lot in life can open into full fellowship 
with all the spirits of heaven. 




Beneath the spreading heavens, 
No creature but is fed ; 

And he who feeds the ravens 
Will give his children bread. 



COWPER. 



February i , 



gftttlg tljts foas tljr Son of (Soli* — Matt, xxrii. 54. 

If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not, But if I do, 
though ye believe not me, believe the works : that ye may know, and 
believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. — John x. 37, 38. 

THESE are remarkable words. Our Lord appeals to bis 
might}* works as proofs of his divine mission, and as 
credentials that he came from God. Men resisted the evi- 
dence of his words : let them yield to the evidence of his 
works. If they were not convinced by what he said, let them 
be convinced by what he did. He had said he was the 
Son of God, — this they disbelieved : but how could they 
deny that he was one with the Father when he did the 
works of the Father. — works which none but God could 
possibly perform, and which proved his goodness, his 
mercy, and his love? Our blessed Lord again and again 
draws attention to his miracles. When John sent his dis- 
ciples to ask him, M Art thou he that should come, or do 
we look for another? * ? he made answer. " Go and shew John 
again those things which ye do hear and see.*" 

Let us mark, and rejoice that the Father and the Son are 
one. The Father in me. and I in him." As Christ said 
again. " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father : " "I 
and the Father are one." One, — of a glory equal, of a 
majesty co-eternal : one in essence, one in purpose, one in 
working. 

Blessed thought I For if Christ and the Father are one. 
then, believing in Christ, my salvation is secure, — for the 
Spirit proceedeth from the 'Father and the Son. and must 
therefore be one with both : so that the Triune God are all 
intent on my salvation, and nothing can separate me from 
their love. 

Christ our Lord and God we own, 

Christ, the Father's only Son. 

Lamb of God for sinners slain, 

Saviour of offending man. c. Wesley. 



February 2. 



3Bg tfje pofoer of ttje Spirit of (!§otl, — Romans xv. 19. 

Verily, verily, / say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works 
that I do shall lie do also ; and greater zuorks than these shall he do ; 
because I go unto my Father.— J OHN xiv. 12. 

THE words, " Verily, verily," render this verse emphatic. 
They show how deeply our Lord felt the truth he 
uttered. To him it was prophecy; to his disciples is given 
the blessed possibility to make it fact. 

Living faith makes the disciple a branch of the true Vine, 
and on the branch we seek the fruit. The work is the same, 
for it comes from the same root. The disciple receives the 
grace of full obedience and consecration and of loving, will- 
ing service. That he should yield himself to such grace is no 
strain upon the gospel ; it is the proper thing for the imitator 
of such a Saviour to do. Then comes the result. The branch 
bears fruit more abundant than the root. 

"Because I go to my Father" gives the reason for these 
greater works. Our ascended Lord now works through the 
Spirit ; and his disciples left on earth are made the instruments 
of greater spiritual results than any that attended the earthly 
life of Jesus ; hence the greater works of Pentecost, of every 
true revival, of thousands of such disciples as Harlan Page. A 
few years ago, a poor humble Nestorian was followed to his 
grave by weeping crowds, who testified to a saving power 
in his life upon them, — a striking illustration of this verse 
fulfilled. " Happy indeed is such a disciple ; the same bring- 
eth forth much fruit." 



Work, for the night is coming, 

Work through the morning hours ; 
Work while the dew is sparkling, 

Work 'mid springing flowers. 
Work, when the day grows brighter, 

Work in the glowing sun ; 
Work, for the night is coming, 




When man's work is done. 



Annie L. Walker. 



February 3. 



Cfjrtst 3zm% came into tfje fcnorlti to safae sinners 

1 Tim. i. 15. 

For the Son of mart is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost. — Luke xix. 10. 

THE Son of God in his work for men identifies himself 
with them by becoming, and constantly calling himself 
the Son of man. He is among men and with men as a new 
power in the life of the world. For one purpose only could 
so great an event as the coming of the Son of man be de- 
manded. For the ordinary regulation of life the resources of 
the earth and the activity of man are sufficient, as each new 
year of experience proves. But the fact that man was lost, 
that he had wandered from his Father's presence and from 
the knowledge of his Father's love, called for the coming of 
the Son of man to bring man back to his true position. The 
wisdom and love of the God of creation met the new demand. 

Without the Son of man our daily duties and pleasures are 
the endless and aimless wanderings of men lost in a trackless 
existence. Under his guidance they are marches to a definite 
end. If that end is not always clear to us or to others, it is 
to him. He not only comes to s^ek, but to save. We respond 
to the seeking voice, and at once the work of salvation begins. 
It is sure of success, and every day that makes up a part of its 
story shares in that certainty, and has now in all its events the 
brightness of the sun which never shall set. 



Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
Wandering from the fold of God ; 

He, to rescue me from danger, 
Interposed his precious blood. 

Robert Robinson. 




February 4. 



JJfritSf Of tfje femgtiom* — James ii. 5. 

Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
you the kingdom. — Luke xii. 32. 

HOW like " the good shepherd ! " What tenderness ! 
What loving sympathy! "Seek ye the kingdom of 
God " as your life-work. Enemies and dangers will confront 
and oppose you. " Fear not them which kill the body." 
"Fear not" anything. '-Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid." 

" Fear not." " Your Father knoweth " your foes and your 
needs. It is his pleasure to give you the kingdom. His 
heart's joy is in it. His hand will accomplish it. 

" Fear not, little flock." Y'ou may think I am sending you 
"as sheep in the midst of wolves," which rush with open 
mouth upon their prey. Seek and fear not; "for it is your 
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 

" Fear not." Your Father gives. Ye are his children. 
Where should the sons and daughters of the King dwell but 
in the kingdom of their Father ? How can the Father do 
otherwise than give you the kingdom? 

" Fear not." Yea, rather, rejoice and be glad. Have con- 
fidence and expectation. Look for the coming of the King. 
Await the bestowment of the kingdom, with the throne and 
the crown, the sceptre and the glory everlasting. 




Cease, ye pilgrims, cease to mourn ; 

Press onward to the prize. 
Soon our Saviour will return, 

Triumphant in the skies. 
Yet a season, and you know 

Happy entrance will be given, 
All our sorrows left below, 

And earth exchanged for heaven. 

ROBERT SEAGRAVE. 



February 5. 



(Sail Ijatfj rfjosrn tljr total* things. — 1 Cor i. 27. 

.Si? /jj-/ shall be first, and the first last. — MATT. xx. i 6. 

WHOM God accepts the world rejects. To human eyes 
Dives was first and Lazarus last, but God saw 
differently. Nero had all the world offered. — health, an 
athlete's strength, intellectual culture, boundless wealth, abso- 
lute power, great honor. Paul was poor. old. sick, impris- 
oned, friendless. But the shout of triumph comes from the 
dungeon, not the palace : from the poor old sick man, not 
the athlete: from the apostle, not the emperor. "I have 
fought the good fight. I have finished the course, I have 
kept the faith." Who thinks of Nero to-day save with con- 
tempt? while Paul is loved and honored throughout the 
world, and will be to the end. Jonathan Edwards's congre- 
gation rejected him by a vote of two hundred to twenty. 
Even the King of heaven "was despised and rejected of 
men."' Saved by grace, we are rewarded according to our 
faithfulness. The eleventh-hour laborers were as faithful 
as the rest, and so were paid the same. The weakest, ob- 
scurest child of God can be as faithful as Paul or Luther. 

" Within the smallest flower I often find 
A richer and more delicate perfume 
Than in the largest, most pretentious flower, 
That waves its petals in the summer wind." 

The most beautiful window in the Lincoln Cathedral was 
made of rejected bits of glass. From material rejected of 
men. God will fashion some of the brightest and most glori- 
ous ornaments of the temple on high. 




Let the world despise and leave me, 

They have left my Saviour too ; 
Human hearts and looks deceive me, 

Thou art not, like man. untrue. 
And while thou shalt smile upon me, 

God of wisdom, love, and might, 
Foes mav hate, and friends may shun me, 

Show thy face, and all is bright. lvte. 



February 6. 



Sealeti 6ottfj tfjat l^olg Spirit of promise. — Eph. i. 13. 

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Com- 
forter, that he may abide with yon for ever ; even the Spirit of truth ; 
whom the world cannot receive, becaicse it seeth him not, neither know- 
eth him : but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in 
you. — John xiv. 16, 17. 

HOW replete with inspiration is every clause of this 
passage ! What wealth of deep spiritual meaning 
does it convey ! Take the very term " Comforter," a Latin 
derivative, — ; 'con," "fords." together with strength. Here 
is implied the Spirit companionship that is strength-giving, 
softened and sweetened by his tenderness and love. Christ 
here assumes that he was the first Comforter. His mission 
was to bind up the broken-hearted ; to this end he held 
within his incarnate person all the treasures of wisdom, 
grace, and compassion. But the demands of his mediatorial 
work made it expedient that he should go away. Comfort- 
less or orphaned he could not and would not leave his dis- 
ciples, hence another Comforter is promised. Equal in his 
essence with the Father, yet was he officially subordinate 
in the redeeming order, and so he prayed the Father and 
his prayer prevailed. An abiding Comforter was sent as the 
final manifestation of God to the Church. Bereaved, deso- 
late, forsaken, lone one, wearing around the heart the rustling, 
withered, dead leaves of departed joy, this is your great 
heritage, — a companion who shall abide with you along 
the untravelled eternities, even the Spirit of truth, who shall 
guide you up the steeps of time and on to the blissful forever. 

I worship thee, O Holy Ghost, I worship thee, O Holy Ghost, 
I love to worship thee ; I love to worship thee ; 

My risen Lord for aye were lost With thee, each day is Pentecost, 
But for thy company. Each night Nativity. 

William F. warren. 



February 7. 



BTfje foorti of our (Staft sfjall stanti for eber. — Isaiah xi. 8. 

Heaven and earth shall pass away : but my words shall not pass 
away. — Mark xiii. 31. 

WHO could speak thus but a man who was God? The 
words cover everything that Jesus ever said. His 
doctrines can never pass away. Human philosophies may 
go out of date, the words of Jesus never : neither can the 
law which he declared. The Sermon on the Mount will never 
be toned down to the level of human morality ; and the 
warnings of Jesus abide in force. Men may ignore them, 
if they like, or explain them away; but this will make no 
difference. They shall not pass away. But we need not 
stop with this. This mighty assurance covers also all the 
promises of Jesus. How many and how precious they are ! — 
"Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out;" 
"I am with you alway:" and "I will come again, and 
receive you unto myself.*' Truly such promises as these 
are royal, godlike ! so great that faith often finds it hard 
to believe them. But he abideth faithful. We feel that we 
can depend on the rising of the sun and the nightly shining 
of the stars and the order of the revolving year ; yet he as- 
sures us these are not so certain as the fulfilment of his words. 
Let us then hold fast the doctrine of Jesus, obey his law, heed 
his warnings, and joyfully rest in his promises ; and in the 
end we shall confess with Israel, " Not one good thing hath 
failed us of all that the Lord our God hath spoken." 




Wide as the world is thy command, 

Vast as eternity thy love ; 
Firm as a rock thy truth must stand, 

When rolling years shall cease to move. 

0 ' watts. 



February 8. 



Cfjaritg , . . tfjmftetfj no eWL — i Cor. xiii. 4, 5. 

jfudge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not 
be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. — Luke vi. 37. 

NOT judged of God to whom all hearts are open and to 
whom all at last shall give account. These words are 
not to be understood to mean that the Church or the Christian 
shall pronounce no judgment against evil. — that duty is ex- 
pressly enjoined in not a few places in the Xew Testament 
both by the Lord and the apostles. The Saviour's words in 
this text are not to be interpreted as permitting the easy-going 
indifference to evil which is so often simply moral cowardice. 
His thought is directed rather to censoriousness, — that cap- 
tious, fault-finding spirit which is quick to see evil and overlook 
good. It is a spirit of rapid growth and wide opportunity. 
As we see it in others, we wonder at its proportions and its 
acuteness. It has an eye like a vulture's; and often when its 
possessor is thought to be enjoying the pure ether and the celes- 
tial radiance of the upper air in which at the time he is float- 
ing, it detects the single speck of carrion in the wide horizon 
and descends upon it as if it were the all-important object 
within its ken. The exhortation is. that we throttle this spirit 
within ourselves ; that we cultivate an eye that shall be quick 
to discern good, a spirit always eager to wrap the work and 
the person of others in the mantle of generous charity. It is 
the command which gives birth to the virtue that Paul so 
beautifully describes as the pre-eminent grace of the Christian, 
the charity " that suffereth long and is kind, that taketh not ac- 
count of evil, that rejoiceth not in iniquity." 



A 




Love is kind, and suffers long, 
Love is weak, and thinks no wrong; 
Love, than death itself more strong, 



Give us heavenly love ! 



C WORDSWORTH. 



February 9. 



3Ltf$te m tfye footlD*— Phil. a. 15. 

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be 
hid. Neither do men light a ca?idle, and put it u?tder a bushel \ but on 
a candlestick ; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let 
yotcr light so shine before men, that they may see your good works y and 
glorify your Father which is in heaven. — Matt. v. 14-16. 

WE do not need to adopt any philosophical theory of 
light to perceive the beauty and pertinence of the 
figure by which our Lord represents his friends as the light 
of the world. The world is dark because sin dominates it. 
Sin darkens the mind so that God, truth, duty, the way of 
salvation by Christ, are obscured. Therefore it needs light, 
penetrating, revealing, awakening. Watch the earth when 
the light of morning breaks over it ! So the moral world 
needs the spiritual light, — the light of Christian example, 
instruction, influence. 

This light is not our light. It is given from above. 
Christ is the light of the world, and the light that is in us 
is from him, as the reflected light of stars is from the cen- 
tral sun. It is not given to be hidden, but to shine forth. 
The old Roman law maintained the right of citizens to un- 
obstructed light. Light is for the world. If we have it we 
must let it shine. The light of the individual Christian 
should make an illuminated home. The light of the united 
Church should be like a lighted city at night, standing on a 
hill. 




Oh, let our love and faith abound ; 
Oh, let our lives to all around 

With purest lustre shine, — 
That all around our works may see, 
And give the glory, Lord, to thee, 

The heavenly light divine. 

C Wesley. 



February io. 



ESE^at persecutions E entmreti, — 2 Tim. iii. n. 

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I came not to 
send peace, but a sword, — Matt. x. 34. 

THIS statement is in apparent conflict with other declara- 
tions of Scripture, and indeed with our cardinal con- 
ceptions of the design of the gospel. Jesus elsewhere says 
to his disciples, " My peace I leave with you : my peace I 
give unto you." The natal song of the Redeemer was, 
" Glory to God in the highest ! On earth, peace ! " 

How shall we reconcile the seeming discrepancy ? First, 
it is an inward peace and not external quiet that is promised. 

Christ expressly tells his followers, ; * In the world ye shall 
have tribulation.*' But he adds, "Be of good comfort; I 
have overcome the world." The peace that he gives us, the 
world can neither give nor take away. 

Next, the world will never be at peace until the world be 
subdued to Christ. A king can grant peace to his subjects 
only while they remain loyal; when they are in rebellion he 
must draw the sword. Our Saviour here represents himself 
as a sovereign come to recover a revolted province. 

Satan has usurped dominion of this world: he must be de- 
throned. It is our noblest privilege to engage in this warfare 
under Christ's banner. To those thus enlisted he says, 4 * Fear 
not, little flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give 
you the kingdom." 



Fear not, O little flock, the foe 
Who madly seeks your overthrow ; 

Dread not his rage and power. 
What though your courage sometimes faints ! 
His seeming triumph o'er God's saints 

Lasts but a little hour. 




Catharine Winkworth (Translation). 



February u. 



EKf}0St nrti fe to fie fttmub. — Heb. vi. 8. 

asr* the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost his savour, where- 
with shall it be salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing, hit to be 
cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. — Matt. v. 13. 

THE salt in Judea was native salt mingled with various 
earthy substances. When exposed to the atmosphere 
and rain, the saline particles in due time wasted away, and 
what was left was an insipid earthy mass, looking like salt, 
but entirely destitute of a conserving element, and absolutely 
good for nothing. It was not merely good for nothing, but 
actually destructive of all fertility wherever it might be 
thrown; therefore it was cast into the streets to be trodden 
under foot of men. The carcass of sheep or bullock might 
be buried deep in this worthless mass, and the process of cor- 
ruption not be delayed a moment. 

What an illustration is this of the absolute worthlessness of 
the form of godliness when the power is utterly lacking! If 
the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted ? How 
can its salting, conserving property be recovered ? What can 
you do with it ? So your savorless religion is not only worth- 
less in its influence on others, but of no good to yourselves. 
It will save neither them nor yourself from corruption. How 
sad for one to have lost the power that belongs to the Christian 
calling, and instead of being the instrument of saving others, 
becoming a means of their perdition ! Well does the Saviour 
say in another place, " Have salt in yourselves." 



Lord, to me more grace impart ; 

Make me faithful, Lord, I pray. 
Purify and keep my heart ; 

Make me fruitful' day by day. 

R. M. OFFORD. 




February 12. 



f^e maketi) tf)e storm a calm. — Psalm cvii. 29. 

Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith ? — Matt. viii. 26. 

THE reproving question bears its own answer. The dis- 
ciples were fearful because they had so little faith. How 
dull they were ! How little they understood him ! They did 
not really know who he was. Surely if they had taken in the 
evidences of his divine personality and authority, which had 
attended all he did and said in their presence, the sudden storm 
on the lake would not have affrighted them with Christ in 
the boat, although he were asleep. Were they not there by 
his command, and what were winds and waves to him? 
Could they perish with him on board ? Alas that we are 
such cowards often in the face of danger, and forget who it is 
that commands the ship ! 

In recently crossing the Atlantic a group of passengers 
after a violent storm huddled together on their steamer-chairs 
condoling each other on their late fearful experiences, when 
a lady of the company addressed the captain, who had drawn 
near, and asked, ' ; Captain, did n't you think Ave were going 
to the bottom ? " Assuming an air of offended dignity, the 
master of the ship replied, " Madam, when I signed the ship's 
papers in the company's office, I agreed to carry this steamer 
across the Atlantic Ocean from Liverpool to New York. The 
bottom is not on my chart." 

Now when Christ entered the ship with his disciples his 
purpose was to cross the lake. The bottom was not on his 
chart. But he answered their fears and bade the wind and 
storm cease; and there was a great calm. 

Jesus Jehovah, be our stay 
Over the dark and troublous way. 
Embarked with him we need feel no fear 
Though the storm, the trial of faith, be near. 



February 13. 



itet noting bt bone tJjrousfj , . . bain alorg, — Phil. k. 3. 

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : 
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. — 
Matt. vi. i. 

GIVING and serving are the two thoughts of this pas- 
sage. As to giving Christ seems to take it for granted 
that his followers in ever*} 7 possible way will relieve human 
sorrow and want. He does not command them to feed the 
hungry, clothe the naked, and deliver the oppressed, but in his 
life shows how these exercises are the natural outcome of a 
loyal love. For the true Christian no commands are needed 
on these lines. There is, however, danger that men will give 
for the sake of attracting attention and securing applause. 
Here " take heed." He who gives from love to God shall 
have reward, and may not concern himself whether his gifts 
are unknown or known; but he who gives for the sake of 
human commendation, or human recognition of any kind, 
shall have no reward, save such as comes from the hollow 
praise of men. All truly Christian giving is spontaneous 
and self-forgetful. As to serving, this is to spring from the 
same unselfish motive. We are not to do righteousness that 
we may be personally commended, but that we may commend 
Christ. In all our deeds our one aim should be to lead men 
into the acceptance and obedience of the gospel. The more 
vital our Christianity the more completely do we lose our- 
selves in the one purpose to attract men to Christ and cause 
them to share in his great salvation. 




Mean are all offerings we can make ; 

Yet thou hast taught us, Lord, 
If given for the Saviour's sake, 

They lose not their reward. 



WILLIAM CROSSWELL. 



February 14. 



^oto long fjalt bettom too opinions?— 1 Kings xviii. 21. 

^ //to is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth not 
with me scattereth abroad. — Matt. xii. 30. 

CHRIST had come to an issue with the leaders of the 
Jewish people. He claimed to be their Messiah. To 
disregard that claim was to reject him. This they did, and 
called his power satanic. The common people looked to 
these leaders for guidance, and followed their indifference. 

We all influence each other. Influence is like force. It 
always acts in some direction; and the direction is not af- 
fected by its strength. A west wind is a west wind, whether 
it is a cyclone or a zephyr. A great man and a child may 
both work for Jesus, and the child just as truly as the man. 

Some railroad men are on a hand-car. Whoever does not 
work at the lever adds to the load. A poor family are strug- 
gling for a living. Such of the children as earn ever so little 
are doing a share, but those who earn nothing eat up the 
earnings of the rest. The policeman that so far befriends a 
thief as not to arrest him is the thief's ally. The army offi- 
cer who tolerates mutiny is guilty of helping it on. 

No man can sit on the edge of a sword-blade ; his at- 
tempt would be his destruction. There is no half-way place 
there ; so God calls for open, active friendship. As you 
cannot stop breathing and not die, so you cannot neglect 
Christ and not perish. 




Lord, I am thine, — entirely thine, 
Purchased and saved by blood divine ; 
With full consent I thine would be, 
And own thy sovereign right in me. 

Samuel davies. 



February 15. 



H3e clotfjrtl fcottfj fjumtlttg, — 1 Peter v. 5. 

Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister ; and 
whosoever will be chief among yoit, let him be your servant : even as 
the Son of man came not to be ??iznistered unto, but to minister, and to 
give his life a ransom for many. — Matt. xx. 26-28. 

OUR Lord did not reprove the desire to be great. He 
taught by what means greatness can be secured. 
These men were not to make this the thought and purpose 
of their life, nor were they to regard it as the unconditioned 
gift of God. They could have it by becoming ministers to 
others. This is not an arbitrary rule, but a necessary prin- 
ciple. Greatness is not of bargain or reward, but the nat- 
ural result of a great life. Usefulness wins the honor which 
it does not seek. Nothing less than this gains our lasting 
homage. We bow before high authority; we admire great 
attainments; but it is service to which we give real honor, 
and render sincere allegiance. To this we build monuments. 
We gain our own approval when we have made ourselves of 
use. This is in accordance with the divine nature, of which 
we are partakers. God has revealed himself as love. As a 
father he ministers to his children, and even to birds and 
flowers. When the Christ came into the world it was to 
give his life for men. It is through this gift that he has 
made himself our Redeemer and our Lord. He taught that 
this is the law T of heaven. Those who " for the sake of the 
Name" have ministered to others with the cup of water and 
the personal helpfulness are his disciples, whom he receives 
into the kingdom prepared for them. 




O wondrous Lord, my soul would be 
Still more and more conformed to thee, 
And learn of thee, the lowly One, 
And like thee, all my journey run. 



Bishop A. C. Coxe. 



February 16. 



Stole ♦ • ♦ to saiie ♦ . . to tfjr uttermost. — Heb. vii. 25. 

J/;' jte/ hear my voice, and I know t/iem, and they follow me: 
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, 
which gave them me, is greater than all ; and no ?nan is able to 
pluck them out of my Father's hand. — John x. 27-29. 

THE characteristics of the Saviour's sheep are presented 
in these words, and their secure and happy condition is 
also set before us. In the attitude of a shepherd, the Lord 
Jesus shows us how near he comes to the needs of our sinful 
humanity. This is presented in the former part of this chap- 
ter, where we are taught that he calls and names his sheep, 
that he leads and feeds them, and also that he gives his own 
life for them. On the other hand, the sheep are brought be- 
fore us in these most interesting and touching verses, that we 
may understand what they are in character, and what they 
shall be in the future of Christ's kingdom and glory. It 
should be realized that these are the permanent and universal 
traits of true discipleship. Whenever and wherever one of the 
Saviour's true sheep is found, he will be one who receives him 
as Master and Lord, and who hears his word and follows him ; 
and the result will be that Christ will know him in the way of 
recognition and of gracious assurance, and will give to him 
eternal life. 



Oh, what glory, far exceeding 

All that eye has yet perceived ! 
Holiest hearts for ages pleading 

Never that full joy conceived. 
God has promised, Christ prepares it, 

There on high our welcome waits ; 
Every humble spirit shares it, 

Christ has passed the eternal gates. 

William J. Irons. 



February 17. 



©ut frltotosfjtp fottfj tfjr fattier, anti fcttj jjfe Son. 

1 John i. 3. 

TJftf /^z^ he will keep my words: and my Father will love 
him, and we will co?ne unto him, and make our abode with him. — 
John xiv. 23. 

THIS fourteenth chapter of John is full of comfort for the 
troubled Christian: 1. Heaven is certain (v. 2). 2. 
The way is plain (v. 6). 3. Power for sen-ice is granted (v. 1 2). 
4. Our prayers will be answered (v. 13). 5. The Comforter 
will come (v. 16). 6. Christ will return (v. 18). 7. Fellowship 
with the Father is promised (v. 23). What more could we 
ask? Xot only is the future home assured, but here in this 
life we are promised fellowship with God. But remember, 
this is conditioned on our loving the Lord and keeping his 
words. The Person and the Book — the incarnate Word and 
the written Word — should be the centre of our thoughts. If 
then, "the words of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom," 
we can appropriate this beautiful promise and say with joy, 
" Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ." 

Love divine, all love excelling, 

Joy of heaven to earth come down, 
Fix in us thy humble dwelling ; 

All thy faithful mercies crown. 
Jesus, thou art all compassion, 

Pure unbounded love thou art. 
Visit us with thy salvation ; 

Enter even* trembling heart. 

c. Wesley. 



February 18. 



©oil for Christ's safee fjati) forgt&tn gnu, -- Eph. iv. 32. 

Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee. — MATT. ix. 2. 
Thy sins are forgiven. — LUKE vii. 48. 

HOW happy the child who knows he has been forgiven ! 
Especially is this true if he is conscientious, — one who 
has been taught the truth by the Spirit of God. 

A Christian is a child redeemed. He has the simplicity, 
the trust, the joy of a child, not only at his conversion, but 
often after he hears the voice of Jesus saying to him, " Thy 
sins are forgiven thee.*' The moralist, the socinian, the world- 
ling, the formal professor, knows nothing of this ; but the true 
disciple does. 

Let me give an illustration. A theological student just 
completing his course was a good prey for the adversary. 
Satan told him he was not a Christian ; how then could he 
consistently preach the gospel ? For days he was in darkness. 
At length his burden became intolerable. This matter must 
be settled. He shut the door of his study and tried to pray; 
the heavens seemed to him like brass. In his distress he 
opened the Bible. The first verse he saw was, "Son, be of 
good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.*' 

Light came, and with it joy. Was it a chance ? Was it a 
delusion ? No ; forty years have passed, and that student now 
testifies in this sermonette the Lord is true. They that trust 
in him shall not be confounded. When Jesus says the word 
" forgiven," he seals the truth with his Spirit. Has he spoken 
this word to you ? 



My burden at his feet I laid, 

And knew the joy of heaven, 
As in my willing ear he said 

The blessed word, " Forgiven." 

P. STRYKER. 




February 19. 



Cfjrist iriijn ts our life. — Col. ill . 4. 

/ am the living bread which came down from heaven : if any man 
eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that IwtU give 
is my flesh, which I will give f:r the life of the world. — ToH.N* 
vi. 51. 

A S cur bodies need bread for the sustenance of the physi 
/V cai life, so also do our souls need their proper fee:.. In 

make this offer. As in the olden time the manna fell from 



tne si> 
from 



to feed the people of God, so has Christ descended 



ype of tt 

15 Let us rememb a er'. however, 
bread for humanity is not th 

tions of an earthly life of loneliness and persecution, and 

only are nourished by the bread of life who by faith receive 
and assimilate the crucified Christ. 

Bread of heaven, on thee we feed. 
For thv nesh is meat indeed. 
Ever let our souls be fed 
With this true and living bread. 



the Christ who is the living 
e-existent Son of God. nor 



;c=:ah ccniek.. 



February 20. 



I fcaas set tip from rfjerlasttng. — Prov. viii. 23. 

K<?2/r father Abraham rejoiced to see my day : and he saw it, and 
was giad. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you. Before Abraham was, 
I am. — John viii. 56, 58. 

THE continuous life of Christ in creation and in the history- 
of this world from first to last underruns various ques- 
tions as to redemption and salvation, solving many such prob- 
lems satisfactorily. The work of Christ through the Divine 
Spirit is potent alike in external and indwelling Christian life. 
The lack of the Christ-life among professing Christians, as it 
seems, causes Tolstoi* and other able leaders to question 
whether true Christianity as yet exists to any considerable 
extent on this planet. Far from being a religion worn out 
and ready to pass away, the perfect day of Christ, the true 
Christendom, is yet to come : for the real Christian's true life 
has this unmistakable quality, — it is inevitably and invariably 
manifest in the self-sacrificing, self-effacing devotion to God 
and humanity of Christ-like living. The ground of Christian 
missions then is not so much the fear of hell as the love of God. 
The Church's missionary charter is our Lord's commission, 
" Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
creature : go, teach all nations ! " Christians, incited to daily 
Christian living at home, are thus directed to undertake 
devoted efforts reaching far abroad, for those enlightened 
by the gospel day owe a vast unpaid debt to Abraham and 
the past. To Greece and Rome and Egypt, to learning, 
whether of the orient or Occident, as well as to Mahometan 
scholars and the Jewish Scriptures, Christians owe a debt of 
honor, to be paid in proportion as we teach all that they may 
come to see and know the truth as it is in Jesus, and that so 
finally may be fulfilled our Lord's high-priestly prayer that 
" all may be one." 




February 21. 



jfatbeartng one another, anti fopjtftmg; one another. 

Col. iii. 13. 

Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him 
his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
gained thy brother. — Matt, xviii. 15. 

" T^HY brother.' 5 — this brings to mind the relationship 
X which all Christians sustain. " One family we 
dwell in him," " of whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named." What a privilege to be recognized as a 
"brother" in it! "If thy brother trespass against thee!" 
Alas, how liable we all are by word or act to commit this 
offence ! " To err is human.*' " In many things we offend 
all." " If a man offend not in word, the same is a perfect 
man." This fact is the basis for mutual charitableness. If 
when another has thus trespassed against us. we can forgive 
it without a word being said about it, we ought to do so : 
but if we cannot, then our elder Brother saith, " Go and tell 
him his fault between thee and him alone." Do not tell 
any one else about it. We must remember, however, that to 
secure a successful hearing, we must "go" in a Christian 
spirit and at a proper time. " If he shall hear thee, thou 
hast gained thy brother.*' What a blessed result to both 
parties, and to the cause of our Redeemer! "Brethren, if 
any of you do err from the truth, let him know that he 
which converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, shall 
save a soul from death and hide a multitude of sins." 

Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are 
spiritual restore 'such an one in the spirit of meekness, con- 
sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." 




Oh, give us hearts to love like thee ! 

Like thee, O Lord, to grieve 
Far more for others' sins than all 

The wrongs that we receive. 



Sir e. Denny. 



February 22. 



ESSfjatscefor is not cf fattfj ts gin, — Romans xiv. 23. 

(9 //^^ of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? — Matt. 
xiv. 31. 

PETER'S perilous enterprise had in it a good deal of 
presumption, and very little faith. Happy he who has 
been taught to discern the difference between these two. 
Faith accepts duty even when there is danger. Presump- 
tion accepts danger even when there is no duty. True faith 
is never foolhardy. It may dare anything at the call of the 
Master, but it may dare nothing recklessly. He who trusts 
God need not fear. He who tempts God need not hope. 

But there was an element of vanity as well as of presump- 
tion in Peter's behavior. It would be a great feat if he could 
walk on the tempestuous waves. Mingled with the enthu- 
siasm of his affection was an ambition to exhibit his bravery. 
This neutralized what little faith was in him. Faith will 
have nothing to do with display. When self-conceit enters 
in, the virtue of faith oozes out.' Self-trust and Christ-trust 
are mutually exclusive. Vanity forestalls victory. True 
faith, like true charity, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed 
up, doth not behave itself unseemly. Fear and trembling 
are the steadfast friends of triumphant faith. If when the 
difficulties of life thicken, we have nothing to support us but 
our own ardent feelings and enthusiastic resolves, we must 
surely be overcome ; but if we can look away from our 
troubles to Christ, and say, though heart and flesh faint and 
fail, Thou art the strength of my heart and my portion 
forever," we will walk unflinchingly on the floods. " This is 
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 

Increase our faith, and clear our vision, Lord, 

Help us to take thee at thy simple word ; 

No more with cold distrust to bring thee grief, 

Lord, we believe, help thou our unbelief ! w. f. sherwin. 



February 23. 



fffttttgrg anti tijtrstg, tfjctr soul famtrt m tfjenu 

Psalm cvii. 5. 

And when he had spent all, there arose a 7nighty fami?ie in that 
laJid ; and he began to be in want, — Luke xv. 14. 

HOW graphically our Lord portrays human experience ! 
Every turn in this most simple and yet most marvel- 
lous of all his wondrous parables delineates some phase 
of practical truth. When the prodigal had spent all that he 
called his own, then arose the famine. 

Possessed of wealth, surrounded by affluence, the thought 
of want had never presented itself. Soon, however, he dis- 
covered the exceeding deceitfulness of sin. It not only palls 
on the taste, but destroys, alienates, and produces irremedi- 
able want where before had existed profligate abundance. 

What words can depict the hunger of the soul! The fig- 
ure of the poor outcast, envious even of the swine that he 
herded, is unequalled in its power to set forth the unutterable 
misery of the soul when bankrupt in truth and love and all 
that really sustains life. 

Note well that the famine was in that land. O soul, 
ahungered, needy, and despairing, in thy native land want 
never comes ! Only because thou hast turned thy back on 
thy Father's house and hast wandered beyond his domain, 
in the forbidden territory of lust and sin, has thy patrimony 
failed thee and want consumed thee. In that home which 
thou didst so lightly abandon, there is unfailing plenty and 
room for all. 




Thou who homeless, sole, forlorn, 
Long hast borne the proud world's scorn, 
Long hast roamed the barren waste, 
Weary pilgrim, hither haste. 



ANNA L. BARBAULD. 



February 24. 



5Lort, tearfj us to prag! — Luke xi. i. 

A fter this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in 
heaven y Hallowed be thy name. — Matt. vi. 9. 

WHO as Jesus can teach us to pray? Only the Son of 
God knoweth the Father, and only the Son of man 
— the man Christ Jesus — knoweth the depths of the human 
heart. Christ is light. He is love also, and as he alone 
knows our need, so he only knows the fulness of blessing 
and glory to which divine love has chosen us in him. 

The invocation is the countenance of the prayer, in which 
its very soul and heart shine forth ! Jesus reveals, gives us 
the Father. He is the only begotten; but he became man 
and died for us, and by his resurrection he became the first 
begotten, the first born among many brethren. The Holy 
Ghost, who brought you to Jesus, cries in you, Abba Fa- 
ther ! Look thou to Jesus, and then in him say, Father. It 
is the word of faith; and faith cannot be without love, and 
therefore you say, Our Father. The filial spirit is the broth- 
erly spirit ; and hope beholds heaven, for there is our treas- 
ury, our future inheritance. 

Our first petition, fundamental and comprehensive, is, Hal- 
lowed be thy name. To know God is eternal life. Every 
name of God by which he revealed himself to Israel is 
precious. Every name is substance; but his perfect name 
is Jesus. May his name be a strong refuge of safety to us, 
an all-sufficient consolation and joy, a bright light and per- 
fect standard, a victorious weapon against temptations and 
worldliness, summary and seal of all the blessings of the new 
covenant ! 



" Abba, Father," Lord, we call thee, 
Hallow'd name from day to day. 
'T is thy children's right to know thee ; 
None but children " Abba " say. 

Robert Hawker. 




February 25. 



©f tfjme oixrn fja&e toe gftm tfjee, — t Chron. xxix. 14. 

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in 
the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be 
told for a memorial of her. — Matt. xxvi. 13. 

THESE words were spoken to comfort one in distress. 
Simon had invited Jesus to supper. Seeing Lazarus, 
— once dead — and Simon cleansed of leprosy, type of sin, 
Alary longed to express her love to the conqueror of natural 
and spiritual death. 

She took an alabaster box of precious ointment and poured 
it on his head. John characteristically shows her depth of 
love by adding, ki She anointed his feet and wiped them with 
her hair." Judas, hypocritically, and " some of the disci- 
ples," honestly, reproached Mary for not selling the ointment 
and giving it to the poor. There was apparent good reason 
for the reproach, for the Master had often commended in 
word and in deed the care of the poor. Mary was troubled 
lest she had made a mistake, but she was comforted by 
the prophetic promise that in the whole world, wherever the 
gospel shall be preached, her act would be told for a memo- 
rial of her. " More than three hundred pence " w r ould have 
relieved much distress, and the ointment poured upon Christ's 
head was of little material use. But an act is estimated not 
by its results, but by its prompting motive. Mary's motive 
was to honor her Lord. Recognizing the motive, he com- 
mended the act. And so he will recognize and commend 
every act, great or small, springing from a like impulse. 




We lose what on ourselves we spend ; 
We have as treasure without end 
Whatever, Lord, to thee we lend, 



Who givest all. 



C. Wordsworth. 



February 26. 



21 fof)0les0me tongue ts a tree of life* — Prov. xv. 4. 

.Z?^ I say unto you, That every idle word that 7?ien shall speak, they 
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words 
thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shall be condemned. — 
Matt. xii. 36, 37. 

HOW tenderly and tragically impressive are these words 
of Jesus ! They surely do not come under the idle cate- 
gory. We are amazed at the minuteness of the divine inspec- 
tion. Does God care for the divisions and subdivisions of 
things in this world ? 

The Old Testament declares that " the steps of a good 
man are ordered by the Lord," and the New Testament adds 
that the "hairs of your head are all numbered." It is not 
strange, then, that words should be taken into the scale of 
judgment, — for words are the betrayal of nationality even 
here. With the eyes shut we can classify talkers. So too 
are words the betrayal of companionship. Watchful parents 
quickly trace the friendships of their children by the words 
they use : and words also indicate the thoughts and inward 
character. Hot. hasty words reveal the spirit's life : so idle 
words, betraying a careless, indolent spirit, become the evi- 
dence of a just condemnation at the great assize. Idle words 
caught from the lips and repeated, penned, and printed give 
to strangers their estimate of their author. Words are more 
than air vibrations. They build up and demolish, strengthen 
and discourage, drive to despair and lead to Christ. 

Oh, what need of pardon, of blotting out the records in 
atoning blood, when we remember that all the idle words have 
been registered ! Xot by what another has said of us, but by 
our own words shall we be justified or condemned. 




Take my Hps, and let them be 

Filled with messages from thee. p. r. havergal. 



February 27. 



Come ge to tfje foaters. — Isaiah lv. 1. 



Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but whoso- 
ever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but 
the zuater that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water spring- 
ing up into everlasting life. — John iv. 13, 14. 



F Y Samaria saw that no fountain of earthly joy could sat- 
isfy her immortal spirit. Would that all who thirst for riches, 
honors, pleasures, could have their eyes thus opened ! The 
principle of divine grace, implanted in our hearts, becomes 
"a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Our 
merciful Saviour invites, yea, urges us all to come to him and 
assuage our thirst. Have we done this ? If so, we are sure of 
heavenly support amid earthly trials, and of eternal bliss. 
An African missionary of my acquaintance exclaimed when 
dying, " How grand a thing it is to have the certain con- 
sciousness of everlasting life !" He had quenched his thirst 
at this wonderful fountain. It bubbled up in his glad expe- 
rience, as he bade adieu to sublunary scenes. Friends, drink 
yourselves, freely, and persuade others to do likewise. The 
four lepers at the gate of Samaria said one to another, " We 
do not well ; this is a day of good tidings, and we hold our 
peace." 




Teacher the woman of 




CA 



Come to the living waters, come ; 

Sinners, obey your Maker's call ! 
Return, ye weary wanderers, home, 

And find his grace is free for all. 



J. WESLEY. 



February 28. 



3&ept fig tfje poiner of (@otJ. — 1 Peter i. 5. 

Are not two sparrcnvs sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall 
not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs oj 
your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more 
value than many sparrows, — Matt. x. 29-31. 

THIS is an argument from the less to the greater. Does 
God care for oxen? For our sakes, no doubt, this is 
written. " Much more," is the frequent formula by which 
God proves to us from what we already know and clearly see 
what he desires to teach us regarding his providential care. 
We are of great worth because we can know God, can love 
God, can serve God; because we shall live forever. There- 
fore God cares for us. " The redemption of their soul is 
precious." 

God's providence is universal. " His kingdom ruleth over 
all." He can govern all only by controlling each. He man- 
ages the stream, because he presides at the fountain. God's 
providence is minute and specific. Great doors swing on small 
hinges. God's very greatness enables him to care for the 
little; only the Infinite can pay attention to infinitesimals. 
It is "trifles that make perfection." Telescopes reveal the 
magnitude of God's creation; microscopes, the minuteness of 
his care. God's providence is beneficent. " All things work 
together for good.''' " As for you, ye thought evil against me, 
but God meant it unto good." Even the wrath of man is 
made to subserve God's beneficent purpose. " All things are 
yours." " Fire and hail ; snow and vapor ; stormy wind, ful- 
filling his word." " I know the thoughts that I think toward 
you ; thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected 
end." " Trust in the Lord." 

lit. JbcfadlfVUi. 



The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, 

I will not, I will not desert to his foes ; 

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, 

I '11 never, no never, no never forsake. george Keith. 




February 29. 



Incline gout ear, antJ come unto me, — Isaiah lv. 3. 

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareih 
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, 
let him take the water of life freely. — Rev. xxii. 17. 

THE Bible is God's message to mankind, and its contents 
may be summed up in a word, — come. We have 
;i Come," in Genesis and in Revelation; "Come," in the 
prophets and the gospels. Under righteous sentence of death 
on account of sin, God bids us come into the Ark for shelter. 
Though he is holy and just, and we are guilty, yet may we 
come to him, — for he can make away with the crimson of our 
guilt and the scarlet of our transgression. Athirst for peace 
and rest and joy and bliss, he bids us come to the never-fail- 
ing, the ever-satisfying waters. We have nothing to give him 
in return, but he bids us come without money and without 
price. To every soul burden-worn and weary, Christ says, 
" Come unto me and rest." Burden of sin, burden of sorrow, 
burden of care, burden of temptation, each may be brought 
to him. None can be turned away, for he says, " Him 
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Nor shall any 
coming one fail to find satisfaction, for Christ says again, 
" He that cometh to me shall never hunger." The last chap- 
ter of the Bible, almost the last verse, repeats the call. It 
is the call of the risen Christ now. He came from heaven to 
give once more heaven's invitation to earth, God's message to 
man. Let us therefore come. 

Come, ye dying, live forever; 

'Tis a soul-reviving flood. 
God is faithful ; he will never 

Break his covenant sealed in blood, 
Signed when our Redeemer died ; 
Sealed when he was glorified. j. Montgomery. 



March i. 



Bdfl&ctJ, let :ts lobz one another* — i John iv. 7. 

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as 
I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. — John 
xiii. 34, 35- 

NO one can really love the Saviour without loving those for 
whom he died ; and we are bound to love one another 
as Christ loved us. His love is not dependent upon our 
worthiness, — alas for us all, if it were ! He loved us before 
we loved him, and having loved his own, he loves them to 
the end in spite of all their frailties. We are called to love 
the fallen all the more, because they so much need our love, 
and should continue to love our brethren, although we may 
see that they are full of infirmities. 

True love is always faithful, as well as charitable and tol- 
erant ; but it ceases to rebuke as soon as the signs of peni- 
tence appear. When Jesus met the disciple who had just 
before denied him, he had no word of reproach to utter, be- 
cause he had seen the poor man's bitter tears. Those whose 
lives had been crimsoned with sin Jesus forgave, because 
they " loved much.*' True love is always forgiving as well 
as faithful. 

" Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down 
his life for his friends; " and this is what Christ did. He 
even laid down his life for his enemies, and prayed for his 
murderers as he hung upon the cross. Our love for those 
around us is to be measured by what we are willing to do for 
them. True love is always ready to make sacrifices. It re- 
joices in the opportunity of helping others. Faith may lan- 
guish and hope grow dim, but love outlasts them both' " for 
the greatest of these is charity.'' 




Love is the golden chain that binds 

The happy souls above ; 
And he 's an heir of heaven who finds 

His bosom glow with love. 



Joseph Swain. 



March 2. 



3£fjts tTje true (Soli, anti Eternal life, — 1 John v. 20. 

z> /{/^ eternal, that tliey might know thee the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou- hast sent. — John xvii. 3. 

CHRISTIAN philosophy epitomized ! Two thoughts ap- 
pear, shining like upper and lower harbor lights to 
guide the mariner home. Life ! — creation's great fact, rivet- 
ing attention in every leaf and flower, demanding thought 
with every breath and heart-beat, questioned by every long- 
ing hope of humanity, — what is it, not alone physically and 
mortally, but spiritually and eternally? Science hangs her 
head and answers evasively, or in a circle. Human philos^ 
ophy confesses ignorance. We grope unsatisfied ; not a ray 
of light till it bursts resplendent from the life and lips oi 
Christ! This is not mere eternal existence of which Jesus 
speaks. Lost souls, fallen angels exist in living death for- 
ever. Real living, worthy living, is no question of years, but 
of growing character and quality of being. " To be spirit- 
ually minded is life." Immortal souls live only as they com- 
mune with God. 

But how may I attain it? Seeking to know God is the 
only way. But human searching cannot find out the infinite. 
To our unaided sense he is " the unknown God." Hence we 
need Immanuel, God revealed. Now, to know Jesus Christ, 
whom he hath sent in all his fulness as redeemer, teacher, 
and king, is to know the only true God, and this is life eter- 
nal within our reach, for " he that hath the Son, hath life." 





Life 's but a means unto an end ; that end, 
Beginning, mean, and end of all things, — God. 



Bailey. 



March 3. 



(5tib is not unrighteous, to forget gour . . , labour o£ lobe* 

Heb. vi. 10. 

And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup 
of cold water o?ily in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you^ he 
shall in no wise lose his reward. — Matt. x. 42. 

u TN the name of a disciple." How carefully our Lord dis- 
X tinguishes between deeds and motives ! A little deed 
of kindness from a great motive reveals nobility of character. 
To do it for Christ's sake reveals the loftiest nobility. A 
little act is often a surer test of character than a great one, 
because it is spontaneous. So-called great occasions often 
complicate our motives. Ambition or love of praise try to 
insinuate themselves. 

"A cup of cold water/' How much it does ! It refreshes 
the whole physical man ; and because the giver of it shows 
thought which is wide awake, and tenderness and sympathy, 
his " over soul " wakens the higher nature of the thirsty man, 
and so a cup in Christ's name is a double cup. " Every- 
thing for Christ." That makes the whole life kingly. The 
buckles upon the girth of the king's saddle are royal. This 
spirit gives by unconscious influence a thousand cups of 
comfort and inspiration. We are handing them out because 
giving is the spirit of our life. We shall not know while 
here about all the refreshing cups we have given; but the 
record is made in heaven: u Inasmuch as ye have done it 
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me." 




ci 




Blessings abound where'er he reigns ; 
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains; 
The weary rind eternal rest. 
And all the sons of want are blest. 



c. WESLKY. 



March 4. 



Pfealtng . . . ail manner of tusrasc — Matt. iv. 23. 

Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. — John v. 8. 

DIVINE authority and divine love are beautifully mingled 
in this short, simple command. Jesus, the friend of 
the friendless, addressed it to a wretched sufferer beside the 
pool of Bethesda. who had long waited in vain for some one 
to help him into the healing waters. The reader of this para- 
graph may be a sin-diseased lingerer who is wasting life in 
waiting for — you can hardly tell what or whom. Why waste 
another moment ? Jesus stands beside you. He bids you 
repent, trust him. and follow him. As soon as you are 
willing to obey, he gives you strength to obey. That poor 
cripple had only two weak and withered limbs to " rise " 
with, but the instant that his will obeys Christ, a divine 
power shoots through nerves and muscles, and he stands 
erect. He wanted to arise, made the honest effort, and di- 
vine strength did the rest. His part in the blessed trans- 
action was faith ; Christ's part was saving grace. The two 
combined make the biography of every converted sinner on 
earth or in heaven. The first act you perform, the first sin 
you refuse, and the first effort you make simply to please 
your Saviour, puts you on your feet. Thenceforward the 
Christian life is a walking with Christ and a working for 
Christ until you reach the Father's house in glory. 




Thy work alone, O Christ, 

Can ease this weight of sin ; 
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, 

Can give me peace within. 

H. BON'AR. 



March 5. 



£2£f)0 fa til go for US?— Isaiah vi. 8. 

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? 
behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for 
they are white already to harvest — John iv. 35. 

IN the natural world there are four months, more or less, 
after the seed is sown before the harvest can be ex- 
pected. In like manner, months and years sometimes elapse 
between the preaching of the gospel and the gathering of 
converts. But, as at Sychar, it is not always so. " Behold ! 
lift up your eyes, and look on the fields" — these fields of 
human souls — in many lands. The sowers of the Word 
have gone forth. Much seed has been sown. Some gospel 
sheaves have been gathered. But the sphere is widening; 
many fields are already white for the harvest. Multitudes in 
many heathen lands are even now ready to renounce idolatry, 
and like the Samaritans, to receive Jesus as the Saviour of 
the world. But, while some fields are ripe and others are 
ripening, much ground is still unsown. God calls for both 
sowers and reapers. ,; Who will go for us ? " Yes, " Who f " 
One may sow and another reap ; but when sowers and reap- 
ers see the fruits of their joint labor safely garnered in 
heaven, they will ,; rejoice together." They will together 
share the joy of their Lord. 



Where are the reapers ? Oh, who will come 
And share in the glory of the harvest home ? 
Oh, who will help us to garner in 
The sheaves of good from the fields of sin ? 

eben e. rexford. 




-March 6. 



%mm Cfjrtst tnafertfj tfjrc ruljalc, — Acts ix. 34. 

Daughter, be of good comfort : thy faith hath made thee whole ; 
go in peace. — Luke viii. 48. 

THIS potent touch which Jesus honored was prompted by 
a realization of present and pressing need. The woman 
fully understood the malign nature of her ailment, and was 
persuaded that it was incurable unless Christ should interpose 
for her relief. 

This realization of need and helplessness was the result of 
repeated trial and failure. Only after that she had spent all 
her living upon physicians and grew nothing better, but 
worse, was she persuaded that her case was hopeless unless 
the great Physician would aid her. Under constraint of 
these convictions she came to Christ, she touched, and was 
healed. 

Jesus never rejects us because we insist upon making trial 
of every conceivable device that gives promise of relief be- 
fore we intrust ourselves to his care : but when we come to 
him with the conviction of helplessness that sin engenders, 
and touch him by that simple faith which relies solely on 
him. he will speak to every sin-sick soul those words of 
cheer : " Go in peace : thy faith hath made thee whole." 



Heal me, O my Saviour, heal; 
Heal me, as I suppliant kneel ; 
Heal me, and my pardon seal. 

Thou the true Physician art ; 
Thou, O Christ, canst health impart. 
Binding up the broken heart. 




Godfrey Thring. 



March 7. 



STJjqj sfjall be taint, sattfj tfje 3Lorti of fjostg.— Mal. in. 17. 

7/£<?z/: /to/ # y^c/ ?iames even in Sardis which have not defiled their 
garments; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are 
worthy. — Rev. 3, 4. 

THE Sardian Church, nominally alive, was dead. But 
a few lived righteously, as a few bowed not the knee 
to Baal in the days of Elijah ; as in all times and in all 
churches, doubtless, a remnant is, in which truth survives to 
become the seed of future generations of faith. God never 
leaves himself without a witness. 

2. The few, in contact with a body of nominal Christians 
" who have the name, but deny the power," have been kept by 
God's grace in their faith. They have been alive to God and 
his works, — have been letting their light shine so that men 
seeing their good works have glorified their Father in heaven. 
Though hindered and stumbling, they have been faithful; 
though imperfect, they are taught to look toward perfection. 

3. Shall followers of Christ stop following him because 
the church to which they belong dies to spiritual life? The 
pressure of a tendency will be present to push them down 
into spiritual sleep. But the grace of Christ is sufficient for 
them. There is no environment of evil so bad as the environ- 
7nent of 'God 's grace is good. He who is faithful in the midst 
of unfaithfulness is walking worthily and advancing toward 
that purity which is moral whiteness and light. 



Courage, faithful souls and tried, 
Ye who in his truth abide, 
Keeping near the Saviour's side ! 

Ye shall walk with him in white ; 
Ye shall reign with him in light ; 
Ye shall share his glory bright. r. m. offord. 



March 8. 



f^e eber Itbetfj to make intercession. — Heb. vii. 25. 

I knew that thou hearest me always : but because of the people 
which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 
— John xi. 42. 

CHRIST possesses all the incommunicable attributes of 
proper, personal divinity. He is called the Son of God 
with reference to an order of subsistence we cannot compre- 
hend, — an official subordination cheerfully accepted for our 
sakes, and the assumption of a human nature provided by 
the Father. No essential inferiority is intended ; Christ and 
the Father are one. This fact explains the prevalence of his 
intercession. 

In order that the Jews might know that he was one with 
God and wrought all his works in him, Christ preceded the 
raising of Lazarus with an audible address to the Father, 
adding, " And I knew that thou hearest me always." 

It is a pleasant and inspiring thought to us who believe 
that the Fligh-Priest of our profession, now in heaven, con- 
tinues to appear before God for us. This assures us of ne- 
cessary temporal good, and of spiritual blessings in adequate 
measure at appropriate seasons and in unfailing supply. In 
our experiences of temptation, conflict, sorrow, and fear, 
when burdened with responsibilities and worn with care, and 
in the closing moments of earthly life, Christ will ask that 
we may receive the grace we need and at last be received 
to glory. Blessed be God for the hope of heaven through 
him who ever liveth to make intercession for us ! 



The atoning work is done, 

The Victim's blood is shed, 
And Jesus now is gone 

His people's cause to plead. 
He stands in heaven their great High Priest, 
And bears their names upon his breast. 




KELLY. 



March 9. 



pfts rdmmantmtntts are not grtcfrous, — 1 John v. 3. 

Take my yoke upon you , and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly 
in heart : and ye shall find rest nut o your souls. For my yoke is easy, 
and my burden is light. — Matt, xi, 29, 30. 

IT is the within that makes the without. If the soul be jar- 
ring, no circumstances can be chiming. If the inner life 
be smitten with winds and tossed, the brightest and stillest 
outward prospect will look stormy. If the soul but know 
how to sing inwardly, there shall be birds enough outside to 
sing, even amid the most wintry weather. The great trouble 
is heart trouble. 

It is the philosophy of Christianity that it searches for the 
soul ; if that be made right, prisons will become palaces. 
Rest for souls is the supreme gift. 

The great Teacher tells us that the way of the reception of 
this supreme gift is the way of the yoke. This is the inexor- 
able way. The lawless soul must be the clashing soul. I 
was riding smoothly and easily sixty miles an hour ; the rea- 
son was, the train submitted to the yoke of the rails. What 
crash and destruction had the train determined on a way of 
its own ! If I would have rest I must come under the yoke 
of the divine will. There can be no other path. Sings 
the Psalmist. " I will walk at liberty because I keep thy 
commandments." 

And if we need teaching and direction along this road of 
the yoke, we are to look to Christ : we are to emulate his 
lowliness and meekness. Instant submission to the Father's 
will was the meaning of his life. " My meat is to do the 
will of him that sent me. and to finish his work." He was 
under the yoke and so at rest. What was for the elder 
Brother is also for the brethren. 




Rest is not quitting the busy career ; 
Rest is the fitting the soul to its sphere. 



Goethe. 



March io. 



J^0, ebetg BUZ tfjat tfjttstetf). — Isaiah lv. i. 

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that 
cometh to me I zvill in no wise cast out. For I came down from 
heaven, not to do i?iine own will, but the will of him that sent vie. — 
John vi. 37, 38. 

WHEN Jesus said, " Him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out," it was a statement of such breadth 
that it was difficult for the human mind to receive it. That 
the most abject, forlorn, far-straying sinner would be received 
if he came back to Jesus, required that it should be supported 
by what would overwhelm all the infidelity and depravity of 
the heart of a sinner who had the slightest desire to return to 
God. The proofs which he affords are in the statement, first 
of all, that " God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not per- 
ish, but have everlasting life." Now he adds that the Son 
also loved the world, and that therefore he had come down 
from heaven so as to put himself in such a position that man 
might come to him. To remove every scruple and silence 
every doubt, he asserts that his coming was under the 
double motive of love for mankind and devotion to the 
Father; that what the Father willed he willed, and he came 
down from heaven to carry out that will ; and the Father's 
will was that he should lose nothing of what had been given 
him, and the Father had given to him every single human 
being that would come to him. And so the blessed Jesus 
gives to mankind the most overwhelming assurance that none 
should be lost except those who would not come unto him. 




If I ask him to receive me 

Will he say me nay ? 
Not till earth, and not till heaven 

Pass away. J. NEALE (Translation). 



March ii. 



Purge out therefore tfje olti lea&eru — i Cor. v. 7. 

Take heed and bezuare of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the 
Sadducees, — Matt. xvi. 6. 

ACCORDING to Luke's record, the " leaven of the Phari- 
sees " is hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who acts a 
part. The signification of the word has only that of evil in 
it. That being so, it is quite easy to be a hypocrite, — a 
Pharisee ; the difficulty is not to be one. There is constant 
need of the warning, Beware of hypocrisy. Social influences 
are ever at work to convince men and women that their busi- 
ness is to make their life a masquerade. Worst of all is this 
when, as with the Pharisees, one's religion is but acting a 
part, an outside show, a seeming, a masquerade. 

God is light. Light reveals. Shine into our hearts, O 
Light, that all darkness may be dispelled. Make us children 
of light, since it is a God of light we serve. 

If children, then heirs. God is our Father. He is the 
living God. He is the God of the living. We are united to 
his Son. He ever liveth. Every true soul lives with him, 
lives like him, lives as long as he lives. We will beware of 
the "leaven of the Sadducees " by always keeping in grateful, 
happy memory that we belong to the race of which Christ 
is head ; that we are one with his family in heaven and 
earth. 



I am trusting thee for cleansing I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus, 

In the crimson flood, Never let me fall ; 

Trusting thee to make me holy I am trusting thee forever, 




By thy blood. 



And for all. 



F. R. Havergal- 



March 12. 



satfefietfj tfje longing muL — Psalm cvii. 9. 

They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that 
are sick : I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. — 
Mark ii. 17. 

THE truth taught in these words is apparent in the ex- 
perience of Christian workers in every land. Where 
there is no conviction of sin there can be no fitness to hear 
the Saviour's call to repentance. Many a man will admit 
that he is not in robust health who does not feel ill enough 
to call a physician, and there is an every-day sense of the 
need of food and drink, which is easily satisfied. But the 
feeling that one is sick unto death, and the sense of hunger 
and thirst such as one has in the heat of a desert with no 
knowledge of a supply at hand, are very different things. 
So many a man will admit in a general way that he is a sin- 
ner, when the admission only means that he is not so good a 
man as he ought to be ; but to realize that one is really guilty 
before God and needs the Son of God to save him from eter- 
nal punishment is a very different thing. It is only when 
the Holy Spirit brings the soul to a sense of its sinfulness 
in the sight of God that it is ready to hear Christ's call to 
repentance and obey it. 

The gospel call is addressed to the hungry, thirsty, bur- 
dened, and weary. These words all denote feeling a deep 
sense of want. 




His name is Jesus, and he died 

For guilty sinners crucified ; 

Content to die, that he might win 

Their ransom from the death of sin. 

No sinner worse than I can be, 

Therefore I know he died for me. g. w. bethune. 



March 13. 



2lnfi took upon fjtm tfje form of a ser&ani — Phil. ii. 7. 

I am among you as he that serveth. — Luke xxii. 27. 

HERE is the true criterion of greatness, — willingness to 
serve. Judged by the canons of the gospel, the most 
illustrious life is that which has in it the largest ingredient of 
sacrifice. ,; O God, author of peace," runs the old prayer, 
" whom to know is to live ; whom to serve is to reign." 

Even in the traditions and mythologies of the old heathen 
races, the heroes are men who proved themselves such by 
their readiness to dare and to suffer in the service of others. 
The legend of unselfish, much-enduring love has always been 
the fascinating one, has always laid hold of the imagina- 
tion and swayed the heart as none other does or can do. 
Whether the central figure be that of the warrior going out 
unattended into the wilderness to fight the dragon which has 
laid the country waste, or that of the brave youth leaping 
full-armed into the gulf, because the soothsayers have de- 
clared that only the sacrifice of the best will suffice to save 
the city, the secret of the story's power lies in the specta- 
cle of a life laid down in order that other lives may be lifted 
up and blessed. To be as Christ was in this world, we also 
must serve. 

O Lord, with sorrow and with shame 

We meekly would confess 
How little we, who bear thy name, 

Thy mind, thy ways, express. 

Give us thy meek, thy lowly mind ; 

We would obedient be, 
And all our rest and pleasure find 

In fellowship with thee. 

J. G. DECK. 



March 14. 



33e careful for iwtfjmg. — Phil. iv. 6. 



Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? 
Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall 
take thought for the things of itself Sujfcient unto the day is the evil 
thereof — Matt. vi. 27, 34. 



anxiety out of existence." There is no power equal to 
a question. A question walks right into the soul and com- 
pels it to think. See God amid the majesty of the whirl- 
wind, firing a volley of questions at the self-sufficient Job! 
That volley did what the combined learning of the Orient 
failed to do. It brought down self-stifficiency. Christ in 
the Sermon on the Mount has given us a volley of questions 
wherewith to bring down anxiety. Ask yourselves, What 
reason is there for anxiety ? God has given you the higher 
gifts, "life and body." Is it reasonable to suppose that he 
will deny you the lower gifts, " food and raiment ? " Ask 
yourselves, What profit is there in anxiety? Can it sweep 
away the limitations in which men find themselves? Ask 
yourselves. Does anxiety accord with the teachings of na- 
ture ? What do the flowers, robed in their golden garments, 
say ? What do the birds, picking their daily food out of the 
ground, say? Does anxiety accord with your divine sonship, 
or with God's fatherhood, or with the future which God has 
depicted for his people? That future is all golden. It is 
full of promises and songs and glories. It carries in it an 
endless heaven. 



We expect a bright to-morrow; all will be well. 
Faith can sing through days of sorrow, All, all is well. 
On our Father's love relying, 
Jesus every need supplying, 
Or in living, or in dying, 




teaching is this : 



" Ask questions ; question 




All must be well. 



Mrs. M. B. Peters. 



March 15. 



2Cfje Hart bnket^ on tfje fjeari — 1 Sa>l xvi. 7. 

they which justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth 
your hearts : for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomi- 
nation in the sight of God. — Luke xvi. 15. 

" JUSTIFY yourselves:" that is. pass yourselves oft as 



righteous. Pretended righteousness often deceives 



men, and the pretender is able to win on their esteem. But 
such a man is an " abomination in the sight of God." 

How easy to justify ourselves before men ! for " man 
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on 
the heart." And how difficult to justify ourselves before 
God ! I was once resting on my oars on Lake George. 
Glancing over the gunwale of my boat. I found that I could 
look through the crystal water for at least fifty feet, to the 
bottom of the lake, and I could see stones, trunks of fallen 
trees, and the fish darting through the water hither and 
thither. So God looks into our hearts. His eyes search out 
every secret thing, whether it be good or bad. Then let us 
pray, " Create in me a clean heart, O God. and renew a right 
spirit within me." 

A pretence of righteousness is not righteousness. It was 
the publican who went down to his house ••justified" after 
prayer, and not the man who piously thanked God that he 
was a model of observance of religious and ethical proprieties. 





Spirit of purity and grace, 

Our weakness pitying see ; 
Oh, make our hearts thy dwelling-place, 

And worthier thee ! 



Harriet Auber. 



March 16. 



Het gotir sptecfj iz atoags fcntfj grace* — Col. iv. 6. 

let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay : for whatso- 
ever is 7nore than these cometh of evil. — Matt. v. 37. 



WHAT gift so valuable and such a source of pleasure 
as that of speech, conversation, — the expression of 
thought between man and man ! And yet what gift so liable 
to abuse ! The Teacher who "spake as never man spake " 
here, in his Sermon on the Mount, shows us how to beware of 
this evil. He warns us to let our words be few. 

Careless speech tends to frivolity. He who utters many 
words will speak many ill-advised, foolish things. 

We should be on our guard also against rash, hasty 
speech. This is the most frequent source of unkindness, of 
uttering angry, heart-aching words. " A soft answer turneth 
away wrath : but grievous words stir up anger" (Prov. xv. 1). 

Heeding this precept will, too, keep us from impiety. 
It was because he reflected before he spoke that Job 
" charged not God foolishly " with unjust providential deal- 
ings, and " in all this did not sin with his lips " (Job ii. 10). 

Few words, again, are the more likely to be resolute, deci- 
sive words. A positive " Nay " to the tempter, how often it 
has rescued a youth from vice, or saved a soul to heaven, 
where compromising speech would have lost both ! 

Let us remember then, each day, this counsel of Jesus and 
begin it with the Psalmist's prayer: " Set a watch, O Lord, 
before my mouth ; keep the door of my lips " (Psalm cxli. 3). 



Direct, control, suggest, this day, 

All I design, or do, or say, 

That all my powers, with all their might, 

In thy sole glory may unite. 



Bishop Ken. 



March 17. 



$0t fotllmg tj)at anrj 0f)0ltlti pmgtfju — 2 Peter iii. 9. 

7^7^ sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but 
that the world through him might be saved. — John iii. 17. 

HOW unlike the usual ways of subduing rebels was that 
taken by God ! Daring insurrections against law and 
order commonly meet with tremendous retribution among 
men. " Clemency," we are told, " would be misplaced kind- 
ness ; severity is kindness in the end. Show no mercy to 
old or young till you have stamped out the last ember of 
rebellion." 

" As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways 
above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts." 
" God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but that the world through him might be saved." 

Did ever messenger from an offended king cause his ad- 
vent among rebels to be proclaimed with songs of " glory to 
God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men " ? 

What a gift God gave to the world when he gave his Son ! 
What store of heaven's light and love and joy, of all that 
heals our disorders, brightens our life, sweetens the breath of 
society, mitigates the gloomy suffering and death and throws 
brightness on the eternal future, came into our world with 
him! O blind foolish world, that will not receive the gift, 
and like the poor worldlings of Gadara, entreats God's Son 
to depart out of its coasts ! 




Delay not, delay not ; O sinner, draw near ! 

The waters of life are now flowing for thee : 
No price is demanded, the Saviour is here, 

Redemption is purchased, salvation is free. 

Thomas Hastings. 



March 18. 



©pm to me.— Solomon's Song v. 2. 



Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, 
and open the door, I will co?ne in to him, and will sup with him, and 
he with me. — Rev. iii. 20. 

BEHOLD the dignity of man ! The heart is a palace 
barred and bolted, kept by man. and Christ his Maker 
allows him to hold the key, and will not force a way in. Be- 
hold the interest in man ! Gracious powers from above 
gather about him in pity and love, and out of the midst of 
these Christ knocks and asks admission. No other being is 
the centre of such interest. Behold the privilege of man ! 
If he hear the entreaty and open the door, the Son of God 
will come in and dwell with him. Behold the blessedness 
of man ! The soul into which Christ thus enters has Christ 
sup with him and he with Christ. Note the order : Christ 
first comes down and sups with him and then takes him up to 
sup with himself, — Christly communion with Christ as leader, 
up the ever-higher Christly ranges. Here is the highest bliss, 
and Christ stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, 
offering it. 



O Jesus, thou art knocking ; 

And lo ! that hand is scarred, 
And thorns thy brow encircle, 

And tears thy face have marred. 
O love that passeth knowledge, 

So patiently to wait ! 
O sin that hath no equal, 

So fast to bar the gate ! 




W. W. HOW. 



March 19. 



(goti lofaetfj a cheerful giber.— 2 Cor. ix. 7. 

Freely ye have received, freely give. — Matt. x. 8. 

SIR ISAAC NEWTON said that matter is capable of 
such condensation that the whole earth might be com- 
pressed into the size of a cannon-ball. Here are two words 
that contain the whole gospel, both of salvation and service : 
receiving, giving. 

Imparting is both the end for which we receive and the 
condition upon which we receive more. The inflow of a 
fountain is in order to its outflow, and must cease when the 
outflow stops. He is but a " dead sea " who receives without 
imparting. As Canon Wilberforce says, the substance of all 
duty is, " Admit, submit, commit, transmit." 

We have received freely. The priceless boons of nature 
— sunshine, rain and dew, atmosphere — are without price, 
while beyond price. Heaven itself may be had for the ask- 
ing. God lives to give ; and all true living is free and con- 
stant giving. The godlike soul is not a cold and barren peak 
or arid desert, but a broad and beautiful valley with waving 
harvests and singing streams. 

Giving is the secret of joy. " It is more blessed to give 
than to receive, 1 ' for it is the bliss of God ! 




That man may last, but never lives 
Who much receives, but nothing gives ; 
Whom none can love, whom none can thank, — 
Creation's blot, creation's blank ! 



Gibbons. 



March 20. 



En fjftn btnellet^ all tfje fulness of tlje ©aWjeati. 

Col. ii. 9. 
I and my Father are one. — John x. 30. 

WE have here one of the briefest and yet sublimest words 
spoken by the Son of God concerning his blessed 
person. A colossal word, akin to another, "Which of you 
convinceth me of sin ? r ' and alike in majesty to his decla- 
ration, *• I am the light of the world." 

The Jews understood, for they answered, " Thou makest 
thyself God ; ,? but they were hardened in unbelief, and took 
up stones again to stone him. 

The rock of offence to the Jews is our unspeakably pre- 
cious treasure. We know what Jesus designed to teach. 
One with the Father, so spake he. one in life and one in 
love, and gave as proofs his stupendous works as Saviour 
of mankind, — one in grandeur, power, and glory with the 
Father, of whom John also testified, "And we beheld his 
glory." 

Concerning his redeemed the voice of Jesus says. " I give 
unto them eternal life. They shall never perish." Wherein 
lies the pledge that God will do as he has engaged? Where 
is our hope securely anchored ? Who guarantees to the be- 
liever perfect assurance of salvation through life and through 
the swelling waves of Jordan ? 

"My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all." 
He gave them to be redeemed and " kept," and " I and my 
Father are one ! " 




Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
And thee, of both to be but One, 
That through the ages all along 
This, this may be our endless song : 
" Praise to thy eternal merit, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." 

BISHOP J. COSIN (Translation). 



March 21. 



HSKatcf) unto prager. — 1 Peter iv. 7. 

Be watchful^ and strengthen the things Which remain, that are 
ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold 
fist, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I zuill come on 
thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come up07i 
thee. — Rev. iii. 2, 3. 

IX his counsel to his disciples, as he was about to die, 
Jesus repeatedly used one memorable word, Watch ! 
After sixty years he renews this solemn counsel, Watch ! So 
then, all with us depends upon watchfulness. 

Watchfulness remembers. It recalls the two cardinal facts, 
— our sin. God's grace in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit's 
office is to stimulate the memory of these central facts. Thus 
he daily renews the soul. 

Watchfulness holds fast its grasp of the faith once deliv- 
ered to the saints, its conscious clasp of the hand of the 
Saviour. We ever tend to lose our hold. It needs ever to 
be renewed. 

Watchfulness repents. Life begins anew, as it began at 
the first, with penitence. Observe the sequence of experi- 
ences, — remembrance, a new resolution, repentance. 

Watchfulness makes ready for the coming of the Lord. 
We must be ready at the hour. He comes suddenly to all 
men : to the watcher as a bridegroom, but to the careless as 
a thief. What I say unto you, I say unto all : Watch ! 




Christian, seek not yet repose ; 

Cast thy dreams of earth away. 
Thou art in the midst of foes ; 

Watch and prav. 

Charlotte Elliott. 



March 22. 



J^ts compassions fail not — Lam. iii. 22. 

Fear not : believe only, and she shall be made whole. — Luke viii. 
50. 

THIS word "Fear not," of our divine Lord, is one many 
times repeated in his life and ministry. It is full of 
compassion, comfort, and cheer. When the sad message 
came to the ruler of the synagogue, " Thy daughter is dead, 
trouble not the Master," the words sprang from Christ's 
lips at once, so that the faith of J air us had no time to 
waver: " Fear not: believe only." Jesus immediately sum- 
mons him to a trust in the almightiness of him to whom he 
had appealed. 

Our Lord in this incident joins himself in tender sympathy 
to the sorrows of home life. He crosses the threshold of 
the domestic sanctuary, and with divine power and divine 
love brings "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." 

Here we learn the tender compassion of Christ, the all-suf- 
ficiency of Jesus, and the reality of faith, as a personal trust 
in a personal Saviour, who is able and willing to heal, to 
help, and to save. Jesus is just as real, as personal, as near, 
as loving to-day as in the days of his flesh. He hears your 
cry, and feels the clinging of your faith about his heart. 



But warm, sweet, tender, even yet 

A present help is he ; 
And love has yet its Olivet, 

And love its Galilee. 

The healing of the seamless dress 

Is by our beds of pain. 
We touch him in life's throng and press, 

And we are whole again. 

John G. whittier. 



March 23. 



£0 canfcnnnatum to tfjem inijtdj are m Cfjrfet 3tsus. 

Romans viii. i. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and be- 
lieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life. — John v. 24. 

HATH eternal life,"' is the reading of the Revision. 
The phrase thus comes into accord with John xvii. 
3, " This is life eternal." etc. Eternal is a better word than 
everlasting, and has a richer meaning. Everlasting makes 
us think only of time endlessly prolonged, which is dull and 
dreary. Eternal has to do with a region of condition in 
which the hour-glass and the curfew are irrelevant. Years 
do not add themselves together to make eternity. The eter- 
nal is not a matter of addition or multiplication, but is as sim- 
ple and uncompounded as is he who inhabiteth eternity. The 
real genius of the eternal may all be comprised in a single 
instant, as the real totality of God's presence may be con- 
tained in a cubic inch. Hence Christ does not say. shall 
have, but hath ; will be life eternal, but. this is life eternal. 
Christ thus conjugates eternal life in the present tense for 
the reason that it has no tense : just as no one would ever 
think of dating honesty, or labelling righteousness 18S8. 
Eternity is a divine attribute ; by derivation we become 
eternal in Christ. In Christ we become seasoned with the 
eternal, and are eternal. — an instant matter, not a thing to 
hope for. " This is life eternal." He that believeth hath 
eternal life. 




'Tis eternal life to know him. 

Oh, how he loves ! 
Think, oh, think how much we owe him ! 

Oh, how he loves ! 
With his precious blood he bought us. 
In the wilderness he sought us, 
To his fold he safely brought us. 

Oh, how he loves ! Marianne Nunn. 



March 24. 



8JKtttten fat tfjc ILamb's 600ft of life*— Rev. xxi. 27. 

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto 
vote ; but rather rejoice, because your names are written i7i heaven. — 
Luke x. 20. 

THE desire of power is not wrong in itself. Power may 
be desired from the purest motives and exercised for 
the noblest ends. The seventy found the demons subject 
unto them through the name of their Master, and it was nat- 
ural that they should rejoice therein. It was, no doubt, a 
benignant joy with them. But the exercise of this power 
might be associated with vanity and self-seeking : nay. it 
may consist with the utter absence of saving grace (see Matt, 
vii. 22. 23). Therefore, says the Lord. " Rejoice not that the 
spirits are subject unto you." There is a ground of joy so 
superior to the exercise of any miraculous powers, that our 
Lord would have his followers forget them all in view of a 
purer and far better prerogative : it is that their names are 
written in heaven. Their citizenship is there. Here, in- 
deed, is cause for joy. — joy that swallows up every other 
joy : a joy. too. that sweetens the bitterest cup on earth. The 
humblest believer in Jesus may say, My name is written in 
heaven ! 

Yet, amid this rejoicing in hope, the devout and thoughtful 
believer will also say, But is my name verily written in 
heaven? What evidence have I of it? Have I the witness 
of the Spirit that I am born of God ? Do the principles of 
the gospel of Christ control my heart and my life? If so. 
well may I rejoice : heaven is assured to me. 




In thy fair book of life and grace, 

Oh, may I find my name 
Recorded in some humble place, 

Beneath my Lord, the Lamb ! 

Watts. 



March 25. 



gout life xs jjtti ruttfj Christ m (Srjti* — Col. iii. 3. 

For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son 
to have life in himself. — John v. 26. 

r I 'HE gospel assumes and illustrates the doctrine of the 



1 Trinity. The inerrable relations of the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost are all recognized and embodied in the struc- 
ture of the economy of grace. As in the constitution of the 
Godhead the Father is first, the Son second, and the Holy 
Ghost third. — the Son being from the Father, and the Holy 
Ghost from the Father and the Son. — so in the arrangements 
into which they have entered for the salvation of men, the 
Father stands at the fountain-head carrying out the eternal 
purpose of mercy through the Son and Spirit. The text car- 
ries us back into the fathomless depths of this glorious mys- 
tery, and represents the Son as the God-man. as receiving 
from the Father for redemptive ends a life which is as truly 
divine and self-contained as that possessed by the Father 
himself. This life, in all its divine vigor, is exercised by him 
in the impartation of spiritual life to souls dead in trespasses 
and sins, and shall at last be revealed with majesty and 
power in the resurrection of the dead. Truly " our life is hid 
with Christ in God." Its guarantee and pledge are bound up 
indissolubly by covenant with the vital relations of the God- 
head itself. 



Jesus is God ! Oh, could I now 
But -compass land and sea, 

To teach and tell this single truth, 
How happy should I be ! 

Oh, had I but an angel's voice 
I would proclaim so loud : 

Jesus, the good, the beautiful, 
Is everlasting God. 




Faber. 



March 26. 



EEJfjo art fyou tfjat julrgegt another ?— James iv. 12. 

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but 
perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? — Luke vi. 41. 

TO see a mote in my neighbor's eye when a beam is in 
mine own eye is physically impossible. To see and 
measure my neighbor's sins when I am committing sins my- 
self, is morally impossible. The Pharisee deciding that he 
was not as other men are " was a blind man passing him- 
self off for a professor of ophthalmology. Xo wonder that 
Christ says to such. " Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam 
out of thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast 
out the mote out of thy brother's eye." 

Judging how far my neighbor's soul is wanting in confor- 
mity to God's law will become my business when there is no 
longer in me any want of conformity; hence it will never 
become my business. " Let us not therefore judge one an- 
other any more." The judgment seat is reserved for the holy 
Christ, whose eyes without beam or mote see all things 
perfectly. 

This much however I may decide now, — that never can my 
neighbor's sin. viewed as to its power to obscure my vision of 
things worth seeing, be to me more than a mote. But my sin. 
because it is my sin, becomes a beam preventing my seeing 
God and the pure and heavenly. 

Search me. O God, and know my heart : try me, and know 
my thoughts : and see if there be any wicked way in me, and 
lead me m the way everlasting." 



Forget not thou hast often sinned, 

And sinful yet must be ; 
Deal gently with the erring one, 

As God has dealt with thee. 

FLETCHER. 




March 27. 



Come fajlfclg unto tfje tfjrone of grace. — Heb. iv. 16. 

whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the 
Father may be glorified in the Sou. If ye shall ask anything in my 
name, I will do it. — John xiv. 13, 14. 

THE connection of this absolute promise shows its im- 
mense value. Many stumble at the words of the 
previous verse: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that 
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and 
greater works than these shall he do ; because I go unto my 
Father." They fail to see the connection of the last clause, 
" Because I go unto my Father." Christ is not dead, but 
alive again from the dead, with all power in heaven and 
earth. Therefore he says, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my 
name I will do." This is present supernatural power through 
the believer that is promised. The secret is in verses 10, 
11 : " Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the 
Father in me ? the words that I speak unto you I speak not 
of myself : but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the 
works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father 
in me : or else believe me for the very works' sake." This is 
the mystical union of the Father and the Son. He prays for 
the same in us (John xvii. 21). 

This unity means that the will of God is our will, and our 
obedience means such a ready listening to his voice from 
abiding in him that he answers us by doing that which we 
desire of him (1 John iii. 22). Our works are to reveal 
Christ to the world, as his works reveal God to us. 

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare ; 
Jesus loves to answer prayer. 
He himself has bid thee pray, 
Therefore will not say thee nay. newton. 



March 28. 



3Let tfjts mmti Jje m gou, — Phil, h. 5. 

Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? — Luke ii. 49. 

OUT of all the gracious words which hallowed the child- 
hood of Jesus, these alone have been preserved. The 
link of golden speech seems to bind the incarnate Christ-life 
to that mystery of eternity, when the " Only Begotten of the 
Father " assumed the right to become a ransom for fallen 
man. " Lo ! I come. I delight to do thy will, O my God." 

Whether as a key to all the obedience and sacrifice of the 
mediatorial work, or the motto of every consecrated life, the 
sublime sentence is lovingly cherished. 

Happy are we when we apprehend as Jesus did the father- 
hood of God. 

In that supreme hour when filial love, born of the " spirit 
of adoption," cries " Abba, Father," we will realize, as did 
the holy Child in the temple, that the all-absorbing business 
of life is our Father's business." We should have no busi- 
ness which may not with its best results be offered upon the 
divine altar: while all that work which is peculiar to his 
kingdom we should make our own. 

As of such a service, one says, / must, compulsion ceases, 
and the word glows with the enthusiasm of a voluntary 
sacrifice. 

" 'T is love, not duty," shall we sing? Nay, rather, " Love 
is duty." When love commissions a child of God, the sweet- 
est companionship and highest earthly joys fail to call him 
from the delighted sendee. 




Such was thy truth and such thy zeal, 
Such deference to thy Father's will, 
Such love and meekness so divine, 
I would transcribe and make them mine. 



Watts. 



March 29. 



Jot gout safers fjc became poor, — 2 Cor. viii. 9. 

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of 
man hath not where to lay his head. — Luke ix. 58. 

IT is the glory of faith that it " esteems the reproach of 
Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt : for it 
looks away to the recompense of the reward.'' Thus Jesus, 
the Son of God and the Son of man in his one person, when 
on earth as our good Shepherd and great Captain, to seek 
and save the lost by his life of self-sacrifice and sufferings, 
was able to " endure the cross, despising the shame." by look- 
ing to "the glory that should follow. " Xo person can be 
trained for the service of Christ and follow his example with- 
out the discipline of tribulation and faith fixed on Christ in 
his glory. In union with him through his Holy Spirit, we 
will make cheerfully any sacrifice, and rejoice in toil and 
tribulation to "follow him fully." as did Caleb and Joshua. 

Then at length shall we feel as Caleb and Joshua felt, 
when, as Israel were on the bank of Jordan, these two old 
soldiers with armor on were at their post in the ranks, wait- 
ing for the sound of the trumpet, the signal for the advance 
in their last march across, dry-shod, into "the good land be- 
yond Jordan." This King of glory, the Conqueror " crowned 
with many crowns." — once the poor man of Galilee. — is 
still in tender sympathy with his redeemed ones, and as the 
good Shepherd will ever " lead them to living fountains of 
waters and wipe away all tears from their eyes.'' 



Who suffer with our Master here.. 
We shall before his face appear. 

And by his side sit down ; 
To patient faith the prize is sure, 
And all that to the end endure 

The cross, shall wear the crown. 

C Wesley- 



March 30, 



pfa&mg lofeei) tfjts present foorlli. — 2 Tim. iv. 10. 

Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute 
unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, 
follow me. — Luke xviii. 22. 

LACK of one thing may be fatal. — lack of one stone in 
the arch ; of attention to one leak in the ship : lack of 
saving faith in the soul. Lack of one thing led the young 
ruler to make ,; the great refusal,*' and turn his back on the 
Redeemer. 

No sacrifice, needful to the following of Christ, to be with- 
held; all sacrifice in vain without the following. Sell and 
follow. 

To every life marred by a single sin or by a single imper- 
fection, and to every service of heart, lip, or hand, comes the 
word, " One thing thou lackest.' 1 

Self-denying distribution to the needy in the name of 
Christ is a deposit laid up in heaven to be received again 
with usury. 

Had this young man obeyed, possibly he had been called 
to some high and incalculably useful office in Christ's king- 
dom, — perhaps to be an apostle in the place of Judas ; per- 
haps to write a gospel or an epistle to be read by the godly 
to the end of time. 

No one can foresee to what place in the kingdom the 
obedient soul may be assigned. 

God calling yet ! I cannot stay ; 

My heart I yield without delay. 

Vain world, farewell ! from thee I part ; 

The voice of God hath reached my heart. 

MISS J, BORTHWICK (Translation), 



March 31. 



JSelu&mg, ge rejoice fottfj jog unspeakable. 1 Peter i. 8. 

^;/^ ye now therefore have sorrow : but Twill see you again, and 
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. — 
John xvi. 22. 

COMFORTING words for sorrowing souls. " In this 
world ye shall have tribulation." It is a common ex- 
perience of the saints, and a necessary discipline. But sanc- 
tified sorrow is more than compensated. 

Those words of Jesus, "I go away," together with an in- 
timation of other trials, brought anguish to the disciples. 
How true, " Ye have sorrow now " ! But " I will see you 
again " brought adequate consolation. The cross bore him 
from their sight, but he saw them again and they saw him ; 
and though the clouds received him, yet in spirit he remained 
with them to the end, — a source of joy unspeakable. 

So Jesus deals with all who love him. Their sorrows are 
many, but the sharpest pains come from a conscious separa- 
tion from their Lord, — the communion interrupted by sin 
and unbelief, To them that mourn for him he will show 
himself again. " I will come to you." The severer the 
pangs, the greater the joy of deliverance. " Your heart shall 
rejoice." It is not surface-gladness, which is transitory, but 
a deep, solid, constant, lasting joy. 




But see ! the night is waning fast, 

The breaking morn is near ; 
And Jesus comes with voice of love, 

Thy drooping heart to cheer. 
Then weep no more ; 't is all thine own, 

His crown, his joy divine ; 
And sweeter far than all beside, 

He, he himself is thine ! 

Sir E. Denny. 



April i. 



32Efjo tfjroujptfj fattfj ♦ ♦ ♦ flbtametf promt***. — Heb. xi. 33. 

. . . Believe ye that I am able to do this ? . . . According to your 
faith be it tinto you, — M ATT. ix. 28, 29. 

IN connecting as he does our faith with the exercise of 
his power and the benefits it confers, Christ's design is 
to produce a co-operation of human agency with the divine, 
so that we become co-workers with God in the reception and 
diffusion of the blessings he bestows. Thus, aside from the 
natural or physical effects of such co-operation, there springs 
up a moral or spiritual effect which enriches and ennobles 
the character of man. God honors us by making our faith 
the measure of his beneficence, and we honor him by at- 
testing and acknowledging his power to do the things for 
which we pray. Hence the Scriptures say, " Without faith 
it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God 
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them 
that diligently seek him " (Heb. xi. 6). 

But faith is likewise " the gift of God," and the concomi- 
tant of the divine " grace " which issues in salvation (Eph. 
ii. 8). So that it has been observed that duties are graces, 
and graces become duties. It is not therefore every state 
of mind in which the imagination — the faculty most akin 
to faith — is exercised. That constitutes the prescribed 
condition on which God will use his power and bestow his 
blessing. Many are liable to delusion just at this point. 
The best proof of a genuine faith in man is in the works 
wrought by divine energy and their results according to 
this faith. And so the believer may herewith prove God, 
if he " will not pour out a blessing that there shall not be 
room enough to receive it " (Mai. iii. 10). 




Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, 

And looks to that alone, 
Laughs at impossibilities, 

And cries, " It shall be done ! " 



c. Wesley. 



April 2. 



©0tj alga Tjatfj fjtgfjlg exalteb jjtm* — Phil. a. 9. 

/w* Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment 
unto the Son : that all men should honour the Son, even as they 
honour the Father. He that ho?zoureth not the Son honoureth not 
the Father which hath sent him. — John v. 22, 23. 

IN the language of nature, the Son is the reproduction of 
the Father. God is infinite. The finite cannot directly 
know the infinite ; whatever it knows, it knows by finite 
measures. Yet man is related to the infinite Father. He 
seeks therefore to symbolize God, his conscience demands 
the infinite Judge, his heart the infinite Father ; but his sym- 
bols and measurements are all imperfect, therefore God 
gives us his Son, — a perfect reproduction of himself, mor- 
ally, spiritually, and affectionally. The Son stands on this 
side the chasm of the infinite, — a part of organic nature, able 
to reproduce himself in us, our very flesh and blood. God 
therefore makes him our Judge, because he is the Judge 
in esse, the true type, perfect in love, truth, sympathy. Also, 
because it is essential that the symbol of Deity should be 
authoritative ; having given us his Son, so that we can 
come into clear practical relations with, and likeness to, 
himself, he will not have us dishonoring the Son, and so 
blurring the divine standard and belittling the infinite majesty 
that saves us morally. The perfect light has come, and God 
holds us responsible' ; we must be judged by the Son. 



All hail the power of Jesus' name ! 

Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 

And crown him Lord of all. 

Edward Perronet. 



April 3. 



55% tg ts tfje promise ♦ ♦ . eternal life.— John ii. 25. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall 
never see death. — John viii. 51. 

NOTICE what we may call the majestic simplicity of the 
words of Scripture. It has been said that the grandest 
and most pregnant sentence in our language is, " And God 
said, let there be light ; and there was light." Yet in that 
sentence there is not a word of more than one syllable. 
Fully as pregnant, more mysterious in meaning, yet as sim- 
ple in form, is our text. "/ say unto you." Here, as so 
often when a mighty truth is to come, the personality of 
Christ stands forth. Not, " men say," " it is said," "you all 
know," but " I say." I who came down from heaven, I 
who am the truth, I who have the keys of death and hell, I 
who am the Resurrection and the * Life, say, "If a man 
keep my saying he shall never see death." This stupendous 
contradiction to the natural mind becomes a mine of light 
and truth to him whose soul the Spirit of God illumines. 
He who spake was soon to die after the flesh. He was 
speaking to dying men. What did he mean, then? That 
he who faithfully keeps the saying of Christ shall not see 
that death from which Christ came to deliver man, — the 
death of the soul, the death of condemnation in hell, the 
death which comes from separation from God, the only 
real death. To the Christian, death is a sleep, a passage 
from earth to paradise, an unconscious journey whose end 
is light ; but to the sinner it is an awful catastrophe, the 
close of hope, the beginning of the end. Abraham was not 
dead, though for centuries in his tomb. But many who 
heard Christ with beating hearts and flowing veins were 
dead even while they lived, because they neither knew nor 
obeyed him. 

Death, no longer now we die, 
We but follow Christ on high. 

George Rawson. 



April 4. 



tfattfj, if ft fjatfj not rnorks, fe ineaK— James ii. 17. 

whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, 
the same is ?ny brother, and sister, and mother. — Matt. xii. 50. 

OUR Lord has made all the family relationships more 
sacred. The spirit which would dissolve them, which 
would dream of a holier life than that of the household, a 
discipline more sacred than that of a godly family, is con- 
trary to the spirit of Christ. Through him we learn to love 
our kindred and friends with a nobler love. The Church is 
one great family. — sharers in the same parental care and 
heirs to a common inheritance. Jealousies may spring up 
between the fondest hearts, and the most passionate love 
may grow cool unless Christ purify it. He teaches us how- 
to love brothers and sisters, and even our own children, 
aright. He bids the Church esteem men. not for rank or 
fashion, but because they belong to Christ. 

Our Lord's dying words showed how dearly he loved his 
mother, and were a reflection of the love which she bestowed 
on his infant days. Xo mother was ever more tender and 
thoughtful : no child ever loved a mother so perfectly. There 
is no love like his; and he who possesses it will love his 
kindred better, and seek to win them to the brotherhood of 
Christ. 




Xow I have found a friend 
Whose love shall never end; 

Jesus is mine. 
Though earthly joys decrease, 
Though human friendships cease, 
Xow I have lasting peace ; 

Jesus is mine. 




April 5. 



iHantfcstrti to take arjoarj our sins. — 1 John iii. 5. 

As the Father knoweth t?ie, even so know I the Father : and I lay 
down ?ny life for the sheep. — John x. 15. 

THESE words illustrate the kind and quality of knowl- 
edge the good Shepherd has of his own. and they of 
him. Surely none but the eternal Son would or could 'use 
such a sublime comparison. This knowledge is not infor- 
mation concerning persons and their characters only; but 
it implies recognition, acknowledgment, approbation, confi- 
dence, and love. It indicates the close and affectionate inti- 
macy of friends who know each other so well that there is a 
perfect understanding between them. 

The import of these words of Jesus is that as between the 
Father and the Son. who are the same in nature, will, and 
purpose, this peculiar knowledge exists, so between Jesus 
and the believer, who are in a sense one in nature, will, and 
purpose, there is similar knowledge. And of this, the volun- 
tary death of Christ is the grandest proof on his part, and 
the faithful imitation of his spirit and example is one of the 
best evidences on the part of the believer. 

What a privilege is yours. O believer ! — to know your 
Saviour, and to be known by him. as he knows the Father, 
and the Father knows him. 

Let your life prove that you gratefully appreciate this 
sacred intimacy. 




So shall the world believe and know 
That God hath sent thee from above. 

When thou art seen in us below , 
And every soul displays thv love. 

C WESLEY. 



April 6. 



33efjoltJ, tfje ilorti rometfj* — Jude i. 14. 

The Son of i?ian shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather 
out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do in- 
iquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be 
wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth 
as the sun i?i the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, 
let him hear. — Matt. xiii. 41-43. 



THE same Son of man who was made " lower than the 
angels" that he might taste death for us appears here 
as the Lord of angels, and sends them forth to execute his 
decree, finally and irrevocably separating the wicked from 
among the just. 

The same workers of iniquity who so often in this world 
increased in riches and glory and fared sumptuously every 
day, when the once despised and rejected Son of man comes 
to judgment are cast into the furnace of fire ; and instead of 
pomp and self-indulgence, there is wailing and gnashing of 
teeth. 

And the same humble followers of the Lamb (by divine 
grace accounted and made righteous) who here shared his 
tribulation and his reproach shall then shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father." 

Well might our Lord, after these wonderful declarations, 
exclaim. " Who hath ears to hear, let him hear ! " Now is 
the time to make our choice with which of these great 
throngs our portion shall be. 



Among thy saints let me be found, 
Whene'er "the archangel's trump shall sound, 

To see thy smiling face ; 
Then loudest of the throng I '11 sing, 
While heaven's resounding mansions ring 

With shouts of sovereign grace. 

Selina, Countess of Huntington (probably). 



April 7. 



£ to £11 toalfe at Iftcrtjj: far E srtfe tlju prrrrpts. 

Psalm cxix. 45. 

If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples i?ideed ; and 
ye shall know the truth, and the t?~uth shall make you free. — John 
viii. 31, 32. . 

LIKE genius in art. Christian genius comes not so much 
by endowment as by toil. He who continues in the 
word of the Master moves in an atmosphere of heavenly in- 
spiration as well as of heavenly aspiration. Only by a faith- 
ful adherence to the teaching and example of Christ can one 
come to a full knowledge of spiritual truth. 

Spiritual knowledge thus obtained touches all the powers 
as by a divine force, and each springs to highest activity 
along the lines of holy living. Yet not as a child learning to 
walk, nor as one lame, does a Christian move, nor do the 
rules of the art of Christian living harass the aspiring effort. 
Rather with free step and unhindered energy the disciple, 
trusting, loving, following Jesus, runs and is not weary, walks 
and faints not. The Christian worker reproduces the divine 
ideals, and brings forth results which alike are a blessing to 
humanity and a glory to the Master. 

Dear fellow-disciple, it is your privilege to possess the 
great freedom with which Christ makes his people free. — 
free from the curse of sin. free from the restrictions of igno- 
rance and weakness. — and in which he impresses on imper- 
fect natures his own spirit, so that you may walk and work 
and live in the liberty of the sons of God. 




Bondsman must each soul remain 

Unless truth shall break the chain; 

Truth of God, oh, make me free, 

Set my soul at liberty. r. m. offord. 



April 8. 



Pfe tfjat fjatfj mercg ♦ . , Ijappg ts fje.— Prov. xiv. 21. 

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain 7?iercy> — Matt. 
v.- 7. 

THIS text expresses a common truth, emphasized with 
countless illustrations. Kindness pays. Those who 
are considerate of others in trial are themselves generally re- 
membered in their own times of need. 

But our Lord here means more than this. He means that 
the merciful shall obtain mercy at the last day. Notice, — 

1. That the Beatitudes present but one character. This 
character begins in humiliation and godly sorrow, is marked 
by spiritual meekness, longing after righteousness, and kindly 
feeling for others, and grows into purity of heart. Such a 
character cannot be a fruit of nature. It is that of an ideal 
child of God. 

2. That our Lord does not teach that any man shall at last 
obtain mercy as pay for being merciful. What he says is 
that the man of these Beatitudes is blessed (happy), because 
he shall obtain mercy. He only states a fact, without giving 
a cause for it. We must look for the cause of all mercy at 
last in the free grace of God, and in our Lord's own atoning 
and saving work. 

If we have, already begun in us, the character outlined in 
the Beatitudes, we have already entered into, and shall be ever 
growing in the blessedness of the blessed man. 




Let grace our selfishness expel, 

Our earthliness refine ; 
And kindness in our bosoms dwell 

As free and true as thine. 



JOHN H. GURNEY. 



April 9. 



jFattfj fottfjattt rjJ0tftS 10 tJCall. — James ii 26. 

Not every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is 
in heaven. — MATT. vii. 21. 

THEY are false disciples who cry, " Lord, Lord," but 
who bear no fruit, who hold an orthodox creed and 
profess faith in Christ and attachment to him, while they fail 
to partake of his spirit or keep his commandments. They 
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. They may be 
outwardly in the membership of Christ's Church, but they are 
not of it ; they do notunderstand its spirit ; they are ignorant 
of its sacred joy ; they have no part in its glorious destiny. 

The true disciple is one who not only cries, " Lord, Lord,'' 
but also doeth the will of his Father which is in heaven. He 
is one who makes grateful and joyous confession of his de- 
pendence on and devotion to Christ, and who is entitled thus 
to do in virtue of the consistency between his profession and 
his experience and practice. 

Obedience to the Father's will is the imperative condition 
of entrance into the kingdom of heaven. If eternal life is to 
be had, it must be had according to the principles of the 
divine law, and in no other way. Keeping God's command- 
ments is the only life of the human soul. There is no oppo- 
sition between the law and the gospel ; they are two sides of 
the same thing, which is Love. The law prescribes duty, 
and the gospel brings light to see and strength to discharge 
that duty. The law urges obedience on penalty of death ; 
the gospel comes, not to save us from that penalty without 
obedience, but to fill us with love, which is the spirit of 
obedience and the essence of eternal life. 




Up, then, with speed, and work ; 

Fling ease and self away ! 
This is no time for thee to sleep, 

Up, watch, and work, and pray! h. boxar. 



April io. 



3Let fjutt ask m fattfj* — James i. 6. 

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name : ash, and ye shall 
receive, that your joy may be fitlL — JOHN xvi. 24. 

THIS is one of Christ's words of farewell. It is a part 
of his legacy to his faithful people. — a blank check- 
book on the bank of heaven, with our Lord's signature to it 
right through. Let us have faith to make a good use of it. 

What encouragement and help it gives us ! Our blessed 
Lord well knows how weak our faith is and how slowly it 
grows ; that our hearts are likely to fail us in the presence- 
chamber of the Almighty, — and therefore for our stimulus and 
comfort he speaks to us these words : " Hitherto have ye 
asked nothing in my name, ask," — that is, as the word 
implies, go on asking, continue to ask, — " and ye shall 
receive." 

Note finally the end proposed to be obtained by means of 
our prayer. It is that our joy may be completed ; that we may 
be made truly happy. Our Lord desires that in this life we 
should have joy, and he points us to the only source of true 
blessedness, — to God. Let us then abound much in prayer ; 
and with joyous hearts let us go about the work which God 
has given us to do. 

Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw ; 
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw, 
Gives exercise to faith and love, 

Brines everv blessing from above. 

& i 0 cowper. 



April ii. 



f^fe oton recetfaeli fjtm not — John i. u. 

And ye will not come to me, that ye 7night have life. — John v. 40. 

AN undertone of tender pity and yearning love pervades 
these words. While in them our Lord fixes upon the 
unbelieving Jews the responsibility for their own spiritual 
ruin, he still speaks with the same sad regret as when he 
uttered his lament over Jerusalem. 

In setting forth one purpose of his incarnation, Jesus said, 
ik I am come that they might have life " (John x. 10). But 
those who would have life must come to him and receive from 
him the gift unspeakable which he is always ready to bestow. 
It is never forced upon unwilling recipients. 

We wonder that any refused the loving invitations of our 
incarnate Saviour ; that any could resist the pleadings of him 
whose voice hushed the storm-wind and calmed the angry 
billows and woke the dead to life. But how many now, with 
unwilling heart, turn away from the call of his love, and resist 
the Holy Spirit whom he hath sent ! The intellect is con- 
vinced ; the feelings are stirred ; but the will remains obdurate. 
Men remain at a distance from Christ because they are not 
willing to come unto him. Are you among those of whom 
he is saying : " Ye are not willing to come to me, that ye 
might have life " ? 

And when the sinner chooses wrath, 

God mourns his hapless lot ; 
Deep breathing from his heart of love, 

" I would, but ye would not." 



April 12. 



2Tfje ILorti fe mg s^pfjert ; £ sfjall not foani 

Psalm xxiii. i. 

/ have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been 
with me three days, and have nothing to eat. — Mark viii. 2. 

CURIOUS ones have sought for a likeness of the face of 
Jesus the Christ, but the devout soul looks into the 
heart of him who reveals the Father and is glad. " I have 
compassion." His nature compasses our necessity. His 
heart enfolds us. Nor need one say, " I am left out," because 
it seems too hard to believe that on thee singly he fixes his 
love. With the multitude thou mayest stand and still be 
loved. 

" There 's a wideness in God's mercy 
Like the wideness of the sea." 

Too much on our guard we cannot be against " the false 
limits of our own " by which " we make the love of God too 
narrow." " I have compassion on the multitude." 

Who has not found that " man's extremity is God's oppor- 
tunity " ? Blind unbelief asks, " Carest thou not ? " Faith's 
triumph is that " he knows what we have need of." Only 
let us not misplace our necessities. The soul first — always 
first. " They have now been with me three days." W T h'at 
soul-feasting during that precious time ! But the body has 
its place and must be cared for ; so what he would not do for 
himself he did for the people, — he wrought a miracle to 
meet the extreme occasion. Is not every providence a 
miracle ? Were our eyes but anointed with eye-salve, the 
commonest event of our lives would appear " big with 
mercy." 




O little heart of mine ! shall pain 
Or sorrow make thee moan, 

When all this God is all for thee, 
A Father all thine own ? faber. 



April 13. 



STfje grace tljat 0{)oulti come unto gotu — 1 peter i. 10. 

Blessed are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for they hear. 
For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men 
have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; 
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 
— Matt. xiii. 16, 17. 

THE superior blessedness of Christian privileges is mani- 
fold. For example, in respect to our knowledge of 
God, — his nature, character, purposes, methods ; in respect 
to our knowledge of man, — his unity, fall, needs, moral ca- 
pacities ; in respect to our knowledge of duties, which comes 
to us through this knowledge of God and of man ; in respect 
to our knowledge of a future life, — its certainty and possibili- 
ties ; in respect to our knowledge of the promised Messiah, — 
his divinity, his humanity, his spirituality ; in respect to our 
knowledge of the way of salvation, — the divinity of its medi- 
ation, the fulness of its scope, the completeness of its details, 
the freedom of its provisions ; in respect to our knowledge 
of the nature of worship, — a spirit rather than a letter, a 
character rather than a formula, a life rather than a drill ; in 
respect to the motives which Christianity in distinction from 
Mosaism sets before us, — motives inspired by the character 
of Jesus rather than by the sanctions of the law ; in brief, in 
respect to all higher ranges of thought, experience, aspira- 
tion, possibility, — in all these the lowliest disciple under Jesus 
is greater than the greatest disciple under Moses, for the 
Christian as compared with the Jew has been translated 
from the realm of prophecy into the realm of fulfilment. 




How blessed are our eyes, 
That see this heavenly light ! 

Prophets and kings desired it long, 
But died without the sight. 



Watts. 



April 14. 



HSJljo also mafeetfj intercession for us- — Romans viii. 34. 

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have yon, that he may 
sift yon as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not : 
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. — Luke 
xxii. 31, 32. 

THREE PERSONS, — Christ, Peter, and Satan, the 
Divine, the Human, and the Devilish, in one group. 

1. The Omniscient Lord, reading the inmost soul of his 
disciple, seeing also the desires and movements of the Evil 
One, knowing to-morrow likewise and all things that are to 
be, solicitous for the disciple's safety, faithful to warn, quick 
to rescue and restore the tempted and fallen. 

2. Peter, — sanguine, self-confident, boastful ; so unaware 
of his own weakness, so ignorant of Satan's devices, and so 
unimpressed by his Master's words that though forewarned, 
he is not forearmed, but falls an easy prey to unexpected 
temptation, after which come shame, penitence, and merciful 
recovery. 

3. The Prince of Darkness, — a deceiving spirit, prowling, 
stealthy, and seductive ; audacious and subtle tempter of 
Christ and men ; tireless, cunning, formidable ; ensnaring 
sometimes the noblest, catching David through his passions, 
Judas through his covetousness, Peter through his fears, and 
making even Paul fear lest he become a castaway. 

Three Lessons, — (1) Listen to the wise warnings of 
your tender Lord ; (2) Be not self-confident, but humble : 
(3) Be watchful against the adversary. 



He lives, to bless me with his love ; 
He lives, to plead for me above ; 
He lives, my hungry soul to feed ; 
He lives, to help in time of need. 

Samuel Medley. 



April 15. 



E fa til 0pm put gra&es* — Ezek. xxxvii. 12. 

Lazarus, come forth. — John xi. 43. 

THIS is the sublime conclusion of the touching story of 
the raising of Lazarus. It presents the estimate "the 
Saviour had of prayer. He knew his power and how all 
things were subject to him ; yet when he was about to per- 
form this mighty work for the glory of God and the comfort 
of weeping hearts, he first prayed, and that prayer is full of 
confidence and trust. What a lesson to us to do everything 
with the same confident appeal to God (Phil. iv. 6) ! 

The text again shows the mighty power of Jesus. The 
greatest, the mightiest conqueror of man is death. The most 
mysterious and irrevocable state is that of the dead. None 
can conquer in that war. None ever attempt to revoke the 
decree that bids all to enter the grave. We may sorrow over 
the outward tomb, and weep at our own losses ; but none 
dream of changing the result. Now the mighty power of 
Jesus is manifest, in that, standing at the dark door of this 
dread mystery and these helpless sleepers, he says, " Come 
forth;" and there is nothing can resist his call. Death, 
the grave, the unknown sleep, all respond ; and he that was 
dead and buried stands again a living man, a loving brother. 
What joy and hope for those who trust in Jesus, not only for 
their loved ones gone before, but for their own glorious life 
beyond the death ! "He has the keys of death and of hell." 




Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest, 
Whose waking is supremely blest. 
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour 
That manifests the Saviour's power. 

Mrs. Margaret Mackay. 



April 16. 



3Hje rrjasfjmg at ruater bg tfje toorti* — Eph. v. 26. 

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto 
you. — John xv. 3. 

IN how many ways do men seek to be clean apart from 
the Word, — by ceremonies, by reformations, by resolu- 
tions, by introspections, by feelings ! All these ways how re- 
sultless ! There is but one way, — " Now are ye clean through 
the Word." The Word gives us light upon our condition 
as sinners. The Word sets forth Christ. The Word assures 
us that believing in him, we are " accepted in the Beloved." 
We are " born again " by the Word. The Word sets us at 
liberty. 

More than this, — we are " purged " by the Word. We are 
kk in the Vine " by the Word ; then, as the branches, we 
must be pruned by it. Our Saviour has in the thirteenth 
chapter marked this distinction, — "He that is washed 
needeth not save to wash his feet." The two words 
" washed," " wash," are not the same in the Greek. One is 
bathing the whole body ; the other is washing or wiping the 
hands or the feet. One is regeneration ; the other is restored 
communion. The whole man is washed from sin and washed 
at once and washed forever in the cleansing blood of Christ ; 
but then the sandalled feet in life's journey may acquire a sur- 
face defilement. Hence we have need to look to our ways, to 
try to test them by the Word of God. Thus does the Word 
make us consciously clean. It gives us a conscience void of 
offence, — a great matter. " Wherewithal shall a young man 
cleanse his way ? By taking heed thereto according to thy 
word." 




Order my footsteps by thy Word 

And make my heart sincere ; 
Let sin have no dominion, Lord, 



And keep my conscience clear, watts. 



April 17. 



33rcp goitrsclbrs tn tfjc Iofar of ^§oti. — Jude i. 21. 

As the Father hath loved ?ne, so have I loved you: continue ye in 
my loz'e. — John xv. 9. 

THE very words of Christ have a peculiar charm. We 
especially prize those which declare his relations and 
his feeling toward us. The declaration that he loves us is 
an unspeakably comforting assurance, especially as we are 
conscious of our unworthiness and sinfulness even since we 
have believed. The mystery deepens, yet the thought be- 
comes more definite and comforting when we hear. - I have 
loved you" " as my Father hath loved me." — the same in 
kind, measure, and duration of love. He desires our com- 
panionship and co-operation, as he has daily been the delight 
of his Father and associated in all his operations (Prov. viii. 
301 John xvii. 4. 5. 24). He regards us with complaisance. 
There is in us no good thing, but he has already given us of 
his graces, and will change us into his image from glory to 
glory. He is the brightness of the Father's glory: and he 
delights in our obedience. It is very imperfect: but he 
notices our will and effort to do good, our resistance of temp- 
tation, and our patience under crosses and afflictions. His 
Father loved him because he was obedient unto death. 

Nothing can separate us from this love of Christ. But we 
must be conscious of it and respond to it. " Continue ye in 
my love." Desire close intimacy with Christ. Seek con- 
formity to his image, and crave his approbation in every act. 
"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy 
of vour Lord." 




Oh, the height of Jesus' love, 
Higher than the heavens above, 
Deeper than the depths of sea, 
Lasting as eternity ! 

Love that found me — wondrous thought ! — 
Found me when I sought him not ! 

William M Comb. 



April 18. 



£0 jsljall to eta hz fottfj tfjc Eati. — i Thess. iv. 17. 

Father, I will that they also, whom thou' hast given me, be with me 
where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given 
me : for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. — John 
xvii. 24. 

THIS is the voice of man, and yet throughout its majestic 
rhythm we cannot but detect the accent of Deity. It 
is the word of a king. And where the word of a king is, 
there is power. When he pleaded for himself he said. " Not as 
I will." But now that he pleads for others, he does not hesi- 
tate to speak with authority, " Father, I will." 

He came to be with us where we are. — amid the tears and 
sighs and graves of earth, — that we might go to be with him 
where he is forevermore. The one condition is whether we 
dare to include ourselves among those whom the Father 
gave unto him before the foundations of the earth were laid. 
And this we may do, for it is written, " All that the Father 
giveth me shall come to me." And the reverse is also true, 
k - Those who come are those whom the Father has given." 

Ah, immeasurable extent of love with which the Father 
has loved the Son ! What glory will not that be with which 
he will crown him ! Yet that love and that glory are also for 
us, if by faith we are forever one with him. 




( 1 



Forever with the Lord ! " 

Amen ! so let it be ! 
Life from the dead is in that word. 

And immortality. 



J. Montgomery. 



April 19. 



— Romans viii. 17. 



7^7 him that avercometk will I grant to sit with me in my throne, 
ecen as I also overca??ie, and am set down with my Father in his 
throne. — Rev. iii. 21. 

EACH of the epistles to the seven churches closes with 
a promise to him that overcometh." Our text, which 
concludes the series and sums up the whole, contains the 
royal promise, — the Christian who perseveres to the end is to 
share in Christ's dominion. The believer receives the fulfil- 
ment of the promise in part in this world ; already he is a 
member of the kingdom of God, and in virtue of his relation 
to Christ, himself a king. But this is only the potency and 
promise of what is to be. 

The way to kingship is through conflict; the king is one 
who has overcome. Christ himself won his throne, though 
it was his by right. We must follow in his steps. Our foes 
are in many respects different from his. They are different 
from those of the Asiatic Christians to whom the promise 
was addressed ; but they are none the less real. Satan 
appears in different guise in different ages, but the purpose 
of his warfare is the same. Our enemies are on every side, — 
in the sinful world about us, in the evil that lurks in our own 
hearts ; but our Lord is mightier than Satan. Courage, 
friends! look onward and upward! The struggle is hard, 
but it is worth the pains. We are on the winning side. 
After the battle comes the crown. By and by we shall sit 
with Christ upon his throne. 




'T is God's all-animating voice 
That calls thee from on high ; 

'T is his own hand presents the prize 
To thine aspiring eye. 



Philip Doddridge, 



April 20. 



lE&erg one ♦ . . fofjnt fjxr laaketl) . , . sfjall It&e. 

Numbers xxi. 8. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth o?t me hath ever- 
lasting life. — John vi. 47. 

WE speak of the mystery of life ! Xo doubt obtained 
in the mind of Christ on this subject which so baffles 
and perplexes philosophy. To our eager questionings re- 
garding the future he comes with positive teaching, giving 
us confidence and eliciting our faith. He. the life, out of his 
own infinite knowledge spoke of himself as the source of 
life. Life only produces life, and into the deadness of our 
hearts through the channel of faith pours the living stream 
in each member and through the whole Church, which is his 
body. 

As Christians how little we realize the dignity of our pres- 
ent existence ! - Hath everlasting life " saith our Lord. Even 
now by the new birth we have begun the heavenly life: and 
physical death is but the dropping of the leaf, in order to the 
entrance upon an everlasting spring-time. Christ establishes 
the unity and continuity of life unfolding from the germ of 
the present into the glorious fulness of eternity. — the Chris- 
tian now endowed with all the infinite possibilities of the 
future only awaiting the development. 




Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings, 

Thy better portion trace ; 
Rise from transitory things 

Toward heaven, thy native place. 

Robert seagrave. 



April 21. 



Partakers of f)ts promise fat Christ — Eph. iii. 6. 

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, 
and shall sit dozvn with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- 
dom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast oirf 
into outer darkness : there shall be iveeping and gnashing of teeth. — 
Matt. viii. n, 12. 

THIS is a very important and most precious passage of 
the divine Word. It is a positive declaration by our 
Lord himself that there shall many come from all lands into 
the true Church of God, which was first established in the 
covenant with Abraham. In Luke xiii. 29, the words, " from 
the north and the south," make the expression more compre- 
hensive of all the world. Jesus came to be the Saviour, not 
of the Jews only, but of all who will call upon him, of all 
nations and of all people. When he was on earth, the dis- 
pensation of the Gentiles had not come ; yet he gave a gra- 
cious answer to the few Gentiles who approached him, as he 
did to this centurion, the woman of Canaan (Matt. xv. 22), 
the nobleman (John iv. 46), and the Samaritans (John iv. 40). 
He specially commended the faith of the centurion and the 
woman of Canaan. It is often seen now that heathen con- 
verts manifest strong faith which enables them to endure 
persecution and death for the name of Jesus. Church of 
Christ, to whom the blessed commission is given, " Go ye 
into all the world ! " labor on, pray on, increase the agencies 
that this " multitude which no man can number " may be 
gathered in ! 

While the promise is thus full and precious to those that 
believe, the other alternative remains true : even ; ' the chil- 
dren of the kingdom," if they believe not, " shall be cast out 
into outer darkness." 




Salvation, oh, salvation, 

The joyful sound proclaim, 
Till earth's remotest nation 

Has learned Messiah's name. heber. 



April 22. 



SHasfj me tfjrnugfjlg from mine mtquttg* — Psalm h. 2. 

If I luash thee not, thou hast no part with me. — John xiii. 8. 
~? VERY act and every word of the Lord Jesus was an out- 



-L--' ward expression of his spiritual life. — a real, however 
minute part, of his sublime mission. In washing his dis- 
ciples' feet, he at once revealed himself, and disclosed the 
social principle which lay at the foundation of his spiritual 
kingdom. 

Long before this incident, Peter had openly accepted Christ 
as his Saviour, had confessed faith in him as his Messiah 
and Lord. It was therefore his duty cheerfully and unhesi- 
tatingly to submit to any and every expression of his Master's 
will. How could he have part in Jesus unless he practically 
recognized his authority ? But in our Lord's words there 
was much more than this. His act was in itself the symbol 
of a higher truth. His word shed divine light on the symbol. 
That we may have a part in Jesus, we must not only embrace 
his atoning righteousness, we must be the willing subjects of 
his purifying grace. The feet, soiled by daily travel, must 
be washed, — washed, not by human hands, nor by our own. 
but by Christ's. The blood " in which we have redemption " 
is the blood by which we must be 4i cleansed from all sin." 





I look to my incarnate God 

Till he his work begin, 
And wait till his redeeming blood 

Shall cleanse me from all sin. 



TOPLADY. 



April 23. 



3Let w foatelj anti be sober. — 1 thess. v. 6. 

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things 
saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I 
know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 
— Rev. iii. i. 

HOW close and minute is the espionage of God! He 
knows our works, our words, our thoughts, the intents 
of the heart. He is quick to detect evil, and just as quick to 
discern good. He knew the heartlessness and formality of 
Sardis, and also the charity, the service, the faith, the patience, 
and the works of Thyatira. God is not a policeman, but an 
husbandman. He is more pleased to see a grain of corn 
sprout in the ground than to detect a worm gnawing at the 
root. He warns, he exhorts, he encourages, before he visits 
with scourge and ruin. 

Sardis, opulent city of Lesser Asia, capital of ancient Lydia, 
mad with pleasures and with wealth, we do not wonder, know- 
ing human nature, that the Church of God within thy walls 
and under thy influence became spiritually dead. And yet 
we may wonder, for he who founded thee could give the 
fulness of the Spirit, and also faithful pastors in the place of 
those who, dead themselves, were leading their people in the 
dance of death. There is no excuse for deadness when life 
can be had for the asking. 

Even in Sardis there were those who had not defiled their 
garments. This is proof that spiritual life can be given and 
sustained in most trying conditions. This is proof that a 
man can be a Christian anywhere. 




Come, let us to the Lord our God 

With contrite hearts return ; 
Our God is gracious, nor will leave 

The desolate to mourn. john Morrison. 



April 24. 



Born again, not of corruptible seeti, — 1 peter i. 23. 

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. — John 
iii. 7. 

AND yet men do marvel, as though it were a thing un- 
reasonable that to live a new life we must be new-born. 
We may not understand how it is, but so it is. Christ has 
said it, and who shall gainsay his words ? 

The sinfulness of the carnal mind makes it needful. " Do 
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Man's 
spiritual deadness makes it imperative. There must be new 
forces of spiritual life within. The Spirit of God, freely 
given, is " a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 
The nature of God and of his kingdom necessitates it, for 
without holiness " no man shall see the Lord." What fitness 
can there be for God's service and his kingdom in the natural 
man, which " receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God " ? 
But, thank God ! what must be may be. The new birth is 
from above, and of the Spirit, likened to water for its cleans- 
ing and to wind for its subtle, penetrating power ; and God 
will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Write this 
down, then, as an eternal law of the kingdom of grace, " Ye 
must be born again." 



How helpless Nature lies, 

Unconscious of her load ! 
The heart unchanged can never rise 

To happiness and God. 

ANNE STEELE. 



April 25. 



£ im'II not fail tfjee. — Joshua l 5. 

/ will not leave you comfortless : I will come to you. — John 
xiv. 18. 

OUR blessed Lord will have his people to be a joyful 
people. He would not have them of sad countenances 
and heavy hearts, but wishes them to rejoice in him always, 
for the joy of the Lord is their strength. He was going away 
to prepare a place for them ; he was coming to receive them 
to himself into those heavenly mansions in his Father's house 
especially fitted for their occupancy, and in the mean time he 
would not leave them without " another Comforter," even the 
Spirit of truth, who should not only bring to remembrance all 
that he had spoken to them, but mediate his perpetual pres- 
ence and guide them into truth not yet revealed because they 
were not now able to bear it. Thus associated with and 
dwelling in them they would not be comfortless (Gr. orphans), 
but children of God, joint-heirs with Christ, and members of 
the blessed family of which Christ is the head. 

All these precious assurances of Christ to be with his own 
are made to his people to-day. We need not wait for his 
coming for us, or rather our going to him, at death, or for his 
visible and personal appearance at the last day for the fulfil- 
ment of his promise, " I will come to you." We are sure he 
comes to all who will receive him here and now. He comes 
through the office and influence of the Comforter, the Spirit 
of truth, who takes the things of Christ and shows them unto 
us. May we open our hearts to receive him, and become fit 
temples for his holy indwelling ! 




Always with us, always with us, 

Words of cheer and words of love ; 
Thus the risen Saviour whispers, 

From his dwelling-place above. edwin h. nevin. 



April 26. 



Cast tjjg imrtim upon tije SLortr. — psalm lv. 22. 

7/" GW so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and 
to-morrow is cast into the oven ; how much more will he clothe you, 
O ye of little faith ? — Luke xii. 28. 

THIS is the Master's comforting conclusion from look- 
ing at a lily. Visible nature without, he teaches, is to 
illustrate the invisible nature within. Sight is to confirm 
faith, not to displace it. His doctrine is the direct opposite 
of that of some to-day who have been learning of the beauty 
and wonder of the natural world. These, seeing how much 
that is exquisite in structure perishes, reverse our Lord's say- 
ing, and would make it read, " If God so clothe the grass, 
which to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not also cast 
you into the oven, O ye of too presumptuous faith ? " The 
Son, who knew the Father's heart, says, Nay. The lesson he 
reads us from the illuminated manuscript of the fields is in 
effect this : He who bestows his love on the least, shall he not 
lavish it upon the greatest ? If he does so much to delight 
the eye, shall he not do more to comfort the soul ? Consider 
that the lily, in all its beauty of color and perfection of form 
and delight of perfume, is simply to give you joy. The 
flower is neither useful for medicine nor good for food. It 
rises radiant at the Father's touch purely for your gratifica- 
tion. If your Father, then, so loves to make you happy, how 
truly must he love to make you good ! His care for your en- 
joyment proves his tireless endeavor to transform you into his 
image. 

If our love were but more simple 

We should take him at his word ; 
And our lives would be all sunshine 

In the gladness of the Lord. 

Faber. 



April 27. 



BSSfja gabs Ijtmsclf for — Titus ii. 14. 

7rt;/z the good shepherd : the good shepherd givetJi his life for the 
sheep. — John x. 11. 

WHAT a precious truth is here presented ! Like a sheep 
I am exposed to dangers : wandering about, I am sure 
to meet the roaring lion and be devoured by him. Jesus 
knew the danger I was in. and was so anxious about me 
that he would not send another, but came himself and brought 
me to his fold. Here I mid him the best of shepherds, lead- 
ing his nock to the green pastures of his love, and beside 
the still waters of comfort. While I follow him I know I am 
safe, whatever difficulties, trials, perplexities, or persecutions, 
I may meet, — for he hath said, ; - 1 will never leave thee, nor 
forsake thee ; " yea. he giveth his life for his sheep. He 
loves me more than his own life, and has really died that I 
might live. There is therefore no good thing that he will 
withhold from me. There are. indeed, some things that I 
fancy are necessary and would like to have ; but he knows 
best, and I am willing to trust in him, and say, Not my will, 
but thine be done. ''The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not 
want." 



Oh, for this love let rocks and hills 
Their lasting silence break, 

And all harmonious human tongues 
The Saviour's praises speak ! 



WATTS. 



April 28. 



Woz unto tljem tijat are totse m tfjetr oton egegu 



Z^^ 0/" the body is the eye : therefore when thine eye is single, 
thy whole body also is full of light ; but when thine eye is evil, thy 
body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light 
which is in thee be not darkness. — Luke xi. 34, 35. 

T UST as the kingdom of nature bears the burden of the 



of the inner man. The freshness of the Saviour's teachings 
largely consists in his unfolding of these correspondences 
between the seen and the unseen. All the light which comes 
to the body and to every member of it comes through the 
eye. The eye is made for seeing. To be sure, when there 
is no sight through the eye, even the ears may become eyes, 
even the fingers. A blind man walks, guided by the echoes 
of his own footfalls, guided by the touch of material objects, 
reads the printed page with his own fingers. But it is never- 
theless true that the light-organ of the body is the eye. So 
light comes to the inner man through the conscience. This 
is the light that is in us which is so often darkness ; that is, 
holds darkness. 

The eye is evil, or untrustworthy, when the light from 
objects seen comes at different angles. A man with spec- 
tacles who looks over them is uncertain in his descent of 
the stairs. He has a double vision of distances, and is likely 
to trip and fall. It is so with a man who tries to walk in 
part by the light he gets from earth, and in part by the light 
he gets from heaven. 



Isaiah v. 21. 




outer man bears the burden 




Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, 
Pilgrim through this barren land. 

I am weak, but thou art mighty ; 
Hold me with thy powerful hand. 



William Williams. 



April 29. 



It srtjall not return unto me baft* — Isaiah lv. u. 

Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest 
I will say to the reapers. Gather ye together first the tares, and bind 
them in bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat into my bam, 
— Matt. xiii. 30. 

IT is God's way to let " both grow together." Here are 
lessons of patience and of charity. If God can wait, 
his servants can. If the Master of the harvest can bear 
with the tares, the children need not be anxious about them. 
The wheat and the tares in their early growth are alike ; 
the best farmer cannot distinguish them. God sees the dif- 
ference ; man cannot, but the " day will declare it." There 
is no tareless wheat-field, there is no pure Church on earth. 
The tares will not always be hidden, but when God's sickle 
is thrust in, they will be given to the fire. The wheat will 
all be gathered in due time, — not one of God's children will 
be lost. When we see the tares, let us be patient ; we would 
have cast Judas out long before Jesus did. He may try the 
faith, the charity, and the patience of his people now, by 
leaving Judas in the Church as he did then. 

Be charitable. What you think to be tares may be God's 
wheat. What if they walk not with us ? they may be for us. 
Bear with human frailty and sin ; you also are frail and 
sinful. It is safe to leave the results with God. 




Thou canst not toil in vain ; 

Cold, heat, and moist and dry 
Shall foster and mature the grain 

For garners in the sky. 

J. MONTGOMERY: 



April 30. 



SCfjfe Jjouse tofjxcfj tg called bg mg name*— Jer. vii. u. 

Take these things hence ; make not my Father's house an house 
of merchandise. — John ii. 16. 

// is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye 
have made it a den of thieves. — Matt. xxi. 13. 

OUR Lord was in his holy temple. From the context 
we learn that he was there for a threefold purpose, — 
to receive worship (Matt. xxi. 15); to promote righteousness 
(John ii. 14, 15); and to do mercy (Matt. xxi. 14). These 
are the only legitimate objects for which churches can be 
used, — as houses of prayer and praise ; as schools for teach- 
ing and applying the Word, which is able alike to save the 
soul and sanctify the life (James i. 21 ; Acts xx. 32)5 and as 
centres of evangelizing and charitable work. 

We learn equally what uses of a church are not legitimate, 
and which yet are in danger of insinuating and establishing 
themselves within its sacred courts. We are not likely to 
make it " a den of thieves," as those Jewish sharpers did, 
but we may degrade it into a " house of merchandise " by 
conducting it too much in the commercial spirit and method ; 
and it is a serious question whether many a church is not 
desecrated by the side uses to which it is put for the purpose 
of raising money. Let us learn to look upon a church with 
the eyes of Jesus, as our 4; Father's house, : ' and to love and 
reverence it for his sake. 



How lovely are thy dwellings fair, 

O Lord of hosts ! how dear 
The pleasant tabernacles are, 

Where thou dost dwell so near ! 

John Milton. 




May i. 



SUnto fjtm sfjall tfje gathering of tfje people fie. 

Gen. xlix. 10. 

And I, if I be lifted up fro?n the earth, will draw all men unto 
me. — John xii. 32. 

THROUGH his crucifixion the Saviour saw his triumph. 
" For the joy that was set before him," he would en- 
dure the cross, "despising the shame,*' that so he might ' ; sit 
down at the right hand of the throne of God," and there 
draw all men unto him. His crucifixion conditioned the 
reach and power of his attraction as the Redeemer of men. 
He must suffer if he would save. His lifting up was the 
beginning of his eternal exaltation. From that exaltation his 
influence reaches the lowest depths of human degradation. 
It is a mighty, a universal gravitation, of which multitudes 
are indeed quite unconscious, and which other multitudes 
are resisting. Christ does not drive any, but he does draw 
all, as the sun draws all. The redeeming power is personal 
influence; it is moral and spiritual attraction. It centres in 
the uplifted Christ; but each believer may, and therefore 
must help draw men to Christ. Slowly but surely this great 
prophecy is securing realization. " He shall see of the trav- 
ail of his soul, and be satisfied." Satan shall not have 
the real harvest of the world. That belongs to the uplifted 
Christ. 




Christ for the world, we sing ; 
The world to Christ we bring 

With one accord ; 
With us the work to share, 
With us reproach to dare, 
With us the cross to bear, 

For Christ our God. 

SAMUEL WOLCOTT. 



May 2. 



2Tfj0u ruUst ibz raging of tt>e sea* — Psalm lxxxix. 9. 

i^<?, ^ still. — Mark iv. 39. 

IT was eventide. The setting sun perchance smiled a fare- 
well, flooding the waters with golden light. The sky 
was cloudless. Gennesareth reposed in quiet loveliness, like 
Lucerne in Switzerland or beautiful Loch Lomond among 
the Scottish hills. The disciples were not afraid as they 
embarked. Suddenly the storm swept down upon them. 
The angry waves smote the little ship. Skilful hands plied 
the oars in vain. They were in jeopardy. Then, in answer 
to their cry, the Christ arose. It needed but a word : " Peace, 
be still." " There was a great calm." 

And this is life. One hour all is bright and peaceful ; the 
next the billows break over us, the desire of our hearts dies, 
human help avails nought. Within the soul itself are all the 
elements of unrest. When conscience convinces of sin, and 
memory recalls our selfishness and ingratitude, our own 
unworthiness is revealed. We are in despair. 

Blessed be God, we have a sure refuge ! He who calmed 
the troubled waters speaks peace to human hearts. His 
blood atones for every sin; his grace supplies every need. 
Begin, my soul, this day with a penitent, trustful prayer to 
him, and through its toilsome or suffering hours shall come 
the cheering refrain, " Peace, be still." 





The wild winds hushed ; the angry deep 
Sank, like a little child, to sleep ; 
The sullen billows ceased to leap, 
At thy will. 

So, when our life is clouded o'er, 
And storm-winds drift us from the shore, 
Say, lest we sink to rise no more, 
" Peace, be still." 

Godfrey Thrlng. 



May 3. 



Ojeg tfjat fiotll be rtcf) fall into temptation* — 1 Tim. vi. 0. 

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the 
eye of a 7ieedle, than for a rich man to enter i?ito the kingdom of God. 
— Matt. xix. 24. 

THESE words condemn, not wealth, but the love of it. 
They put not a premium on worldly poverty, but on 
poverty of spirit. They warn against the possible influence 
of riches. Human nature seeks ease and honor, and mostly 
through earthly possessions ; the subtle tendency of such 
possession, or the desire of it, is to wean the soul from the 
contemplation of the eternal Creator to the worship of the 
perishing creature. Giving way to this tendency makes 
these words terribly significant. The young ruler's inordi- 
nate love of wealth suggested them, yet Christ's thought 
comprises not merely those who have " great possessions," 
but those, be they never so poor, whose hearts are engrossed 
in that desire. God enriched the earth for man's good; the 
possession and enjoyment of its bounties may very legiti- 
mately subserve man's chief end. But forget not that the 
grand, noble, and sublime aim of life is the possession and 
enjoyment of the riches of the grace of God our Saviour. 
He looks on the heart, and demands from all followers true 
consecration of heart and possession. Be your worldly state 
in poverty or riches, remember this eternal truth, "Blessed 
are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 




The dearest idol I have known, 

Whate'er that idol be, 
Help me to tear it from thy throne, 

And worship only thee. 

COWPER. 



May 4. 



iFrom me fe tljg fruit fotmfi. — Hosea xiv. 8. 

/tf/w the true vine > and my Father is the husbandman. — John 
xv. 1. 

HP HE union between Christ and his Church is the closest 



1 and tenderest in the universe of God, except the union 
between the three persons of the Godhead. The world of 
nature and the most endearing relations of human life are laid 
under contribution in the Scriptures, and are combined, and 
thus combined are inadequate to express the intimacy of 
this union and the deep unutterable love of Christ for his 
Church. The fundamental idea suggested by the emblem 
of the vine and its branches is the vital union between 
Christ the true vine and the members of his mystical body. 
Without this union there can be no spiritual life and no good 
fruit. The decisive test of this union is to be Christ-like. 
Our spiritual growth is organic, like the vine, and not mechan- 
ical, like the building of a wall. It is an organic development 
by the mighty power of faith, which works from within out- 
ward, and brings the soul under the operation of the great 
doctrines of grace, and into the closest sympathy with Christ 
and his cause. The creator of this union is the Father. He 
engrafts the branches into the true Vine. As the vine-dresser 
uses the pruning-knife to increase the fruitfulness of the vine, 
so our heavenly Father corrects his children, and often 
makes their hearts bleed to increase their Christian graces. 





Lord Christ, we humbly ask 
Of thee, the power and will, 

With fear and meekness, every task 
Of duty to fulfil. 



j. Montgomery. 



May 5. 



31 tite batlg, — 1 Cor. xv. 31. 

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up 
his cross daily, and follow me. — Luke ix. 23. 

WE are wont to say that Christ died that we might not die. 
We should speak more truly if we affirmed that he 
died that we might die. He died for sin that we might die to 
sin ; he bore our guilt in his own body, that we might bear 
about his dying in our bodies. Hence it is written in the Scrip- 
ture : " Forasmuch, then, as Christ hath suffered for us in the 
flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind." " With 
the same mind," not with the same instrument ! The jewelled 
cross or the marble crucifix can do nothing to enable us " fill 
up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." Not the 
image of his crucifixion laid upon us, but the fellowship of 
his crucifixion wrought within us, is what he requires. " Let 
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Our 
wills surrendered to Christ's even as his will was surrendered 
to the Father's ; our self-pleasing daily foregone for his sake 
who " pleased not himself ; " our ease surrendered day by 
day in order that we may endure hardness as good soldiers 
of Jesus Christ, — these are the crucial tests of discipleship. 
Our souls are saved only by Christ's outward cross of atone- 
ment ; they are sanctified by his inward cross of self- 
abnegation. 

Take up thy cross, and follow Christ, 
Nor think till death to lay it down, — 

For only he who bears the cross 
May hope to wear the glorious crown. 

C w. Everest. 



May 6. 



EEittf) sutfj sacrifices (goto fe inell pleased — heb. xiii. 16. 

rffow makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the 
lame, the blind; aiid thou shall be blessed ; for they cannot recom- 
pense thee : for thou shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the 
just. — Luke xiv. 13, 14. 

WHAT the poor and the afflicted cannot do, he who has 
made such sufferers his representatives will not fail 
to do. Jesus links the day of final judgment and award with 
service given on earth to earth's neediest children. We may 
not always with wisdom copy to-day the Oriental habit of 
feast-giving to miscellaneous companies of the blind, maimed, 
and poor. But the celestial spirit of helpfulness and loving 
hospitality to all who are in physical or spiritual need is the 
one immortal duty and glory of Christly hearts. Charity to- 
day should mean not only alms, but Christian friendship. 
Putting aside social schemes that would turn the masses of 
men into shiftless and brutalized parasites of the State, there 
is demanded the bringing to bear on men's lives of all reme- 
dial, educating, preventive, and regenerating influences in the 
spirit of the Golden Rule. When Lowell's Sir Launfal 
shared with the beggar his crust of bread and gave him to 
drink from the icy stream, a heavenly light suffused that 
feast of the Holy Grail, till suddenly the leper rose up be- 
fore him, "shining and tall," in the awful splendor of the 
Crucified and the Crowned. He who with a brother's heart 
shares with the needy brother the bread and water of eternai 
life, sits down to a holy banquet with his Lord and shall be 
welcomed to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 



I behold in thee 
An image of him who died on the tree. 
Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns ; 
Thou also hast had the world's buffets and scorns ; 
And to thy life were not denied 
The wounds in the hands and feet and side. 



May 7. 



23c g£ burrs of tfjc faarlu — James i. 22. 

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth 
the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then conieth the 
wicked one, and catch eth away that which was sown in his heart. 
This is he which received seed by the wayside. — Matt. xiii. iS, 19. 

IN the parable of the sower, our Lord strikingly presents 
the method and results of the ministry of truth in his 
divine kingdom. The seed is sown broadcast. The field, 
with its diversified conditions of soil represents human hearts. 
Some hearts are hard, like the beaten track which can yield 
no fruit. They are not receptive of the truth. In their case, 
the seed simply lies on the surface. Dew. rain, and sun are 
of no use to it. Moreover, it is not allowed to remain. " The 
birds came and devoured it." In other words. " Satan Com- 
eth and snatcheth away that which has been sown in the 
heart.'' Want of interest, inattention, and speedy forgetful- 
ness characterize a large mass of the hearers of the gospel, 
hence the disastrous failure which is here depicted. 

But even the hardened wayside was once soft loam. Hearts 
that were once tender and 'susceptible of good impressions 
become gradually hardened. Wasted opportunities, the riot- 
ous revel of sins', the action of worldly pleasures, the tramp 
of business, all or any of these may render the heart imper- 
vious to the truth, and consequently unfruitful. 

Souls, however, are not helpless and irresponsible. The 
wayside may be converted into fertile soil. God can change 
the hardened heart into " an honest and good heart," which 
shall yield precious and abundant fruit. 

Happy they who seek and obtain this grace that " they 
may believe and be saved." 




Lord, by thy grace, to me impart 
An honest, understanding heart, 
For gracious seed a fitting soil ; 
Xor let the foe of truth despoil. 



R, Iff, OFFHRD. 



May 8. 



are toe tfje sons of ©oi. — i John Hi. 2. 

^;?^/ the glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; that they 
may be one, even as we are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they 
may be made perfect iii one ; and that the world may know that thou 
hast sent me, and hast loz'ed them, as thou hast loved me. — John 
xvii. 22, 23. 

WONDERFUL is the relationship which Christ Jesus 
has established by his obedience unto death between 
God and his disciples. " The Spirit itself beareth witness 
with our spirit, that we are the children of God : and if chil- 
dren, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ'' 
(Romans viii. 16, 17), writes Paul. " Ye are a chosen genera- 
tion, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people" 
(1 Peter i'i. 9). writes Peter. ' " Beloved, now are we the 
sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : 
but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him ; 
for we shall see him as he is " (i John iii. 2), writes John. 
But more wonderful than the words of Paul or Peter or John 
are the words of our Lord himself, quoted above. In heaven 
alone can we hope fully to understand their meaning. 

" The glory which thou gavest me " — not the glory which 
belonged to me as the eternal Son, but the glory which thou 
gavest me as " the Word made flesh : " the glory of a spotless 
righteousness which as ''the Son of man" I have wrought 
out for my people ; the glory of free access to God, and com- 
munion with him; the glory arising from the indwelling of 
the Spirit, through which sinful man becomes " a temple of 
the Holy Ghost; " the glory of being " workers together with 
me " in the salvation of a lost world. For all this there can 
be but one reason given : " God has loved us, even as he 
loved Christ." 



Lord Jesus, are we one with thee ? 

O height, O depth of love ! 
Thou one with us upon the tree, 

We one with thee above. 

J- 



May 9. 



Cor. xi. 26. 
in remembrance of me. — Luke xxii. 19. 

WHO is there of all the dwellers on earth that has not 
felt a desire to be remembered ? To fulfil this wish 
monuments have been raised and colleges founded and hos- 
pitals endowed and brave exploits performed. To this object 
the miser has devoted his savings, the student his stores of 
learning, the painter his skill. Eulogiums have been pro- 
nounced by living orators, and inscriptions engraved upon 
lasting brass and marble. Poems have been written, statues 
sculptured, and bodies embalmed, that the names of men 
and some record of their lives might be perpetuated. Men 
have left legacies to be expended in celebrating with mourn- 
ful obsequies the anniversary of their death, and annual feasts 
have been established for the purpose of remembering the 
departed. 

So Jesus Christ, in instituting the Holy Supper, expresses a 
wish to which every human heart responds. By this ordi- 
nance shall his death, so ignominious in its circumstances, 
but so glorious in its results, be remembered in the repeated 
celebration of this prelude to the scene on Calvary, by the 
whole world of believers whom the power of his love and the 
preaching of his cross is to subdue to his beneficent control 
and make sweetly obedient to his blessed commands. Thus 
shall he be loved and trusted, and his memory be honored 
by sinners saved and sanctified to the end of time. 



According to thy gracious word, 

In meek humility, 
This will I do, my dying Lord, 

I will remember thee. 

And when these failing lips grow dumb, 

And mind and memory flee, 
When thou shalt in thy kingdom come, 

Jesus, remember me. j. Montgomery, 



May io. 



fffe fjatf) mate jjttn to te gm for us* — 2 Cor. v. 21. 

As Moses lifted up the se7'pe?it in the wilderness, even so must 
the So?t of man be lifted up: that zvhosoever believeth in him, should 
not perish, bid have eternal life. — John iii. 14, 15. 

MEN are bitten by fiery serpents, and they die because 
human skill can furnish no antidote. By divine com- 
mand a brazen image of the fiery serpent is "lifted up " 
among them, and every bitten one who looks up to that 
serpent-likeness finds the death-current checked and life 
again coursing through his veins (Numbers xxi. 6-9). 
Thus sin is a virulent poison, caused by the bite of that 
" old serpent . . . the devil." Physicians have ever been 
studying the case and prescribing remedies. But nature 
furnishes no antidote; therefore all their panaceas fail, and 
the poison spreads, working death, physical, spiritual, eternal. 
Is there then no hope ? Plainly there can be none except it 
come from God himself. Such is the suggestion of that 
strange transaction "in the wilderness," and the direct teach- 
ing of these words of our Lord. God himself has under- 
taken the case. " His own Son," having been made "in the 
likeness of sinful flesh," has been " lifted up," first on the 
cross, that he might make expiation, "bearing our sins" — 
as it were, receiving the poison for us — " in his own body ; " 
then to "the right hand of power," that he might send "the 
Spirit of grace " and thus make " the preaching of the cross " 
effectual in inducing the perishing to look unto him and 
live. 




He left his starry crown, 

And laid his robes aside, 
On wings of love came down, 

And wept and bled and died ; 
What he endured, oh, who can tell, 
To save our souls from death and hell ! s . stennett 



May ii. 



E irrtll pour mg spirit upon tJjg geetu — Isaiah xliv. 3. 

behold^ I send the promise of my Father upon you : but 
tarry ye in the city of ferusalem, until ye be eitdued with power from 
on high. — Luke xxiv. 49. 

AFTER Christ had risen from the dead for our justifica- 
tion, and was ready for ascension and for coronation 
on his mediatorial throne, he appears to the apostles as- 
sembled in Jerusalem, gives them a charge and the promise 
of the Holy Ghost — "the promise of my Father," "power 
from on high" — to come upon them while they tarry in the 
city. In obedience to this promise, early on the second 
Lord's day after the ascension, "they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost." Here began the new dispensation of the 
Holy Ghost, and here the Church starts off with one hundred 
and twenty spiritually baptized souls. Since Pentecost, his 
personal presence is the agent by whom all gracious and 
divine influences are communicated to man. He is omni- 
present, and we cannot withdraw from his influence. He 
produces all internal religious experience, enlightens the 
understanding, purifies the purpose, influences the will, ex- 
alts the affections. All right feeling in the human heart is 
traceable directly or indirectly to the Holy Spirit. Our 
personal salvation and our personal usefulness depend upon 
heeding the Saviour's injunction to tarry in the place of 
his appointment until we be " endued with power from on 
high." 

CUuU 



Grant this, O holy God and true, 
The ancient seers thou didst inspire, 

To us perform the promise due, 

Descend, and crown us now with fire. 

Henry More (altered). 





May 12, 



p?arjtw$ meifati of tlje jfatfjer tj)e promise of tfje ^olg 

(§f)OSt. — Acts ii. 33. 

Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; It is expedient for you that I go 
away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not co?ne unto you ; 
but if I depart, I will send him unto you. — John xvi. 7. 

SORROW filled the disciples' hearts as they heard their 
Lord speak of his imminent departure. What will be- 
come of his little flock, what of his work, scarcely begun, if 
now the Head should depart from them, and on such a route, 
through the shame of the cross ! But whether they grasp it 
or not, nevertheless he tells them the truth. It is their salva- 
tion that he goes away. " If I go not away, the Comforter " 
— that is, the Paraclete, the Advocate — " will not come unto 
you." What an awful thought! No Comforter ! no testi- 
mony of Christ ; no reproving of the world ; no guiding of 
the disciples into all truth ; no knowledge and confession of 
Jesus the Lord ; no assurance to the heart of the believer 
that he is the child of God ; no assistance and intercession 
for the saints in their infirmities ; no peace and joy in the 
Holy Ghost ; no fruits of the Spirit, — in short, no Pentecost ! 
But thanks be to God, Christ went away through the dark- 
ness of Gethsemane and Calvary to the glory of Easter- 
morning and Pentecost. Of a truth, it is expedient for us 
that he went away. 




And his that gentle voice we hear 

Soft as the breath of even, 
That checks each fault, calms every fear, 

And whispers us of heaven. 



Harriet Auber, 



May 13. 



Wit fja&e an allocate rxu'dj tfje Jatljrr. — 1 John ii. i. 

/ pray not that tJioit shouldest take them out of the zvorld, but thai 
thou shouldest keep them from the evil. — JOHN xvii. 15. 

THE Redeemer's intercession for his people comprehends 
all that is essential to their welfare and happiness. 
Thev might be taken directly to heaven, but he does not 
ask this, because it is better for them to reach the harbor of 
rest after the storms of life are ended. The disciple is not 
above his Master, who was " made perfect through suffer- 
ings/' He. who knew the power of temptation and the 
blessedness of enduring it. prays that his followers may be 
preserved from the corruption that is in the world, and from 
the overcoming subtlety of the Evil One. It is an error to 
suppose that there is safety in the seclusion of monastic 
life. A Christian's place is in the world. We have no need 
to go out of the world for work, for here it is : or for comfort, 
for God sends it to us here. Christian graces are polished 
bv daily use. and character is developed by friction with the 
world. ' While we are working; for the Master, he is pray- 
ing for us. Where duty calls us to 2:0 we are safe. If 
Vanity Fair lies in the way to the Celestial City, he will 
guide us through without harm: and then the Redeemer's 
other prayer will be answered. " Father. I will that they also 
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am." 




Clothed with our nature, still he knows 

The weakness of our frame, 
And how to shield us from the foes 

Which he himself o'ercame. 

Alexander pivie. 



May 14. 



E K&e 6g tfje fattij of tfjre Son of (Soft. — Gal. h. 20. 

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he 
that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which 
came down from heaven : not as your fathers did eat manna, and 
are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. — John 
vi. 57, 58. 

A WONDERFUL passage upon which the soul can feed 
for hours. It teaches that God is a living God mani- 
festing himself in both the natural and spiritual world. It 
teaches that as Christ lives in God and God in him. and as 
he gains all his life and power from God, so the Christian 
lives in Christ and Christ in him, and he gains all his spir- 
itual life and power from Christ : through Christ the disciple 
is in union with God, and the divine life abides in his soul. 
Notice the conditions. As our bodies through the natural 
organs appropriate of nature's strength to their own vitality, 
so the soul by faith eats of Christ and appropriates of his 
atoning death to its own spiritual life, receiving of his per- 
sonal love, grace, and spirit, as its food, strength, and life ; 
and as long as we daily feed upon Christ's words, love, and 
death, we have not only our own powers, but the power of 
Christ in God to overcome, endure, be, and do all that is 
required of us. This fact in the darkest hours makes us 
brave, patient, and cheerful, for we know that as children 
of the King we shall be more than conquerors through him 
that loved us and gave himself for us. 




I feed by faith on Christ ; my bread, 

His body broken on the tree. 
I live in him, my living Head, 

Who died, and rose again for me. 

j. Montgomery. 



May 15. 



JKSfjom tfje 3Lorti Io&etTj fje cfjastenetf), — Heb. xii. 6. 

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous therefore, and 
repent. — Rev. iii. 19. 

LOVE and discipline, tenderness and fidelity, God our 
Father and God our Teacher, these two are the su- 
preme facts of religion. Our Lord here defines his own 
action in his relation to the chosen. He is carrying forward 
two processes in us, and the command which follows in the 
same text has two parts, each of them in correspondence. 
Chastisement should bring the soul to repentance, and love 
ought to stimulate to a zeal in due proportion. The double 
declaration is the basis on which the double precept rests. 

The orbit of a planet is determined by the play of balanced 
forces, centrifugal and centripetal, so the development of 
spiritual life will be regulated by the two principles here 
defined. By chastisement we are made to see the awful 
depth of sin, and by love, the sublime height of the divine 
holiness. In chastisement we come to know self, the crea- 
ture, and in love we come to have some notion of him, the 
Creator. The two aspects of redemption are not hostile, 
but each is the complement of the other, — discipline and 
privilege, two messengers of the same king, two pages of 
the same lesson, two facts making up together the one su- 
preme truth. He loves, and therefore he educates. Loving 
us, he makes to us a wonderful offer ; he offers to give us 
himself, and chastening us, he makes it possible that we 
should accept such an offer. The affection is wonderful, 
the discipline is severe, but the vital link, uniting the two, 
is the Lord Jesus himself. 




I thank thee for both smile and frown, 

And for the gain and loss ; 
I praise thee for the future crown 

And for the present cross. 



Mrs. Jane Crewdson. 



May i 6. 



viipnn tyz intckcti fje sfjall ram . . . an fjorttble tempest. 



The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for 
him, and in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cat him asun- 
der, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites : there shall be 
weeping and gnashing of teeth. — Matt. xxiv. 50, 51. 

THE faithless servant shall be stung with deepest remorse 
when he shall see his Lord. In the face of the tri- 
umphant Saviour he shall read the disappointment which his 
indifference has wrought, and how great the loss has been to 
him by neglecting those duties which would have brought in 
their train eternal blessedness. He shall be surprised in his 
indifference. His brightest hopes shall prove a cloud without 
rain. Though planted by a heavenly husbandman in a garden 
on a fruitful hillside, tended with all the love that can well up 
from the heart of an infinite Saviour, and watered by the 
dews of the Spirit he shall be cut asunder. The vine laden 
with sour grapes shall be torn from its trellis-work, and the 
fruitless tree shall be rooted up. He shall find his portion, 
but without, among the hypocrites. Instead of the wedding 
march, heralding the approach of the bridegroom, his stupid 
ear shall be shocked by the groans of those who obeyed not 
the call. Instead of the nutter of angels' wings to bear him 
up. he shall hear the gnashing of teeth. O Spirit of life, 
whisper again thy loving come, that we may not fall into this 
death ! 



Psalm xi. 6. 




Have I long in sin been sleeping, 
Long been slighting, grieving thee ? 

Has the world my heart been keeping ? 
Oh, forgive and rescue me, — even me. 



Mrs. E. Codner. 



May 17. 



E press toinarb ti}e mark, — Phil. iii. 14. 

No man> having put his hand to t lie plough, and looking back, is fit 
for the kingdom of God. — Luke ix. 62. 

A SERVANT has undertaken to guide the plough. His 
feet are in the furrow, his grasp is upon the handle ; 
but his face is turned backward. He will make a bad job 
of ploughing. The furrow will be spoiled. That servant is 
not " well placed " with regard to the work before him. 

Christians, above all other people in the world, ought to be 
decided, whole-hearted, enthusiastic. There is no service on 
earth where enthusiastic devotedness is so reasonable as in 
the service of Christ. 

Men are not usually indifferent where their affections are 
enlisted, or where they believe that any great interest is at 
stake. If I hear of one who loved me in my ruin, — so loved 
me that he left his throne and came to my level, not only to 
teach me but to die for me, — and still I feel no awakening of 
affection for him, and am not aroused to any warmth or 
earnestness in my service to him, it must be that I do not 
believe the story that tells of his sacrifice of himself for me. 
I do not give him my heart because I do not give him my 
faith, and therefore / am not fit for the kingdom of God. 




Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a present far too small ; 

Love so amazing, so divine, 
Demands mv soul, my life, my all. 

watts. 



May i 8. 



Christ must necis fjabe suffered, anil risen again. 



Ought ?tot Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his 
glory ? — Luke xxiv. 26. 

HE certainly did, and therefore certainly he ought, for he 
made no mistakes. Not that our Saviour deserved 
any punishment, nor that he was under any obligation to 
become our sacrifice and substitute. But when he took on 
himself the office of our Redeemer it became necessary and 
indispensable that he must suffer and bear the penalty of our 
sins. The disciples were astounded at his arrest, condemna- 
tion, and death, and all their hopes in him as the promised 
Deliverer seemed taken away. But ought not these things to 
have happened ? Should not these very sufferings have 
strengthened their faith and convinced them he was the 
Messiah ? Had he not repeatedly foretold these things, and 
had not all their prophets testified beforehand of the sufferings 
of Christ and the glory that should follow ? It is in this sense 
he uses the word " ought." The very thing at which they 
stumbled was the most convincing proof and demonstration 
of what they hoped. 

Yes ; he ought and he did. He drew not back, but paid 
the dreadful penalty of our transgressions. What he under- 
took he accomplished, and having borne the cross now wears 
the crown. 



Acts xvii. 3. 




There was no other good enough 
To pay the price of sin ; 

He only could unlock the gate 
Of heaven, and let us in. 



Mrs. C F. Alexander. 



May 19. 



SHjeg gfjalt reign fox zbzx anti e&er, — Rev. xxii. 5. 

If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there 
shall also my servant be : if any man serve me, him will my Father 
honour. — John xii. 26. 

IN following Christ we have the advantage of being in the 
light (John viii. 12) and thus knowing where we are, and 
rendering him a more intelligent service. No wonder he 
links following and serving together. I suppose service 
rendered to him is really fruitful only when he is followed 
implicitly and trustingly, in the sense of taking him as infal- 
lible teacher and absolute master. Efforts, and sincere ones 
too, are often made to serve him when this condition is not 
carried out. The world or self is too often master. 

It were natural to be where the Master is if we follow 
him; and yet sometimes we are surprised, and not quite 
pleased, to find ourselves there. So far from honor being 
our lot, we meet with shame. 

There may not be this, there may be even no trial at all, 
in confessing Christ. Thrown among Christians, we may 
have a kindly welcome and sympathy. But do£s not the 
absence of trial sometimes lead to a too easy-going and com- 
placent sort of living, which ends in a forfeiture of the honor 
we had hoped for ? God grant, dear reader, that when those 
who follow him shall appear with Christ in glory we may be 
among them ! 




Glories upon glories 

Hath our God prepared, 

By the souls that love him 
One day to be shared. 



Dean Alford. 



May 20. 



2Hje frtentigrtjtp of tfje inorlti is enmttg Snttfj (Sfcrti. 

James iv. 4. 

^Vi? w<2;z ^yztz j^r^ /w^ Piasters : for either he will hate the one, 
and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the 
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. — Matt. vi. 24. 

HERE are two masters, God and Mammon, or the things 
of God and the things of this world. There are only 
these two masters. The choice is made more easily when it 
is seen to lie between two things or individuals only; and 
the choice is not only of an individual, but for a service. 
The person chooses to serve, and to serve in the service of 
one of these two masters. Both of these masters cannot be 
chosen; both of these services cannot be given. From its 
nature and working, the one necessarily excludes the other. 

In choosing God as master, we choose his service ; we 
choose to serve. "For me to live is Christ;" to live is 
blessed. " For me to die is gain ; " to die is blessed. But 
this service must be prompted by love, not performed as 
duty. It must be a service given in a holding to and a lov- 
ing of God. A person may do the godly and yet not be 
godly ; love determines the true service. Love must lead to 
labor, and labor will increase love. 




Jesus, Master, whose I am, 

Purchased thine alone to be 
By thy blood, O spotless Lamb, 

Shed so willingly for me, 
Let my heart be all thine own, 
Let me live to thee alone. 

F. R. havergal. 



May 21. 



300 it fottfj tfjg tm'rjfjt — Eccl. ix. io. 

/ must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the 
night cometh, when no ma7i can work. — John ix. 4. 

IN saying " I must," as he did more than once, our Lord 
associated himself with those whom he came to teach 
and save, as being, in common with them, under the law of 
duty. In saying, " I must work," he showed that he was un- 
der the law of labor. In saying, " I must work the works of 
him that sent me," he implied that for him duty was not the 
mere satisfaction of his own moral sense, but subjection to 
the will of one by whom his task was assigned and to whom 
he owed obedience. In speaking of the approaching night, 
he represented himself as under the law of death. 

In each of these particulars he is an example for us. If 
we are not free from the law of duty, neither was the Son of 
God. If we are often obliged to say " I must," it is a com- 
fort to remember that Jesus also said it. If he had a definite 
work to do, so too have we. Duty, for us as for him, is obe- 
dience to the will of God. As the Father sent him, so has 
he sent us. To us also the night is drawing nigh. The 
secret of his peace was his identification of his own will 
with that of God. It is still the secret of peace. 




O Master, let me walk with thee, 
In lowly paths of service free. 
Tell me thy secret ; help me bear 
The strain of toil, the fret of care. 

WASHINGTON GLADDEN. 



May 22. 



SJEfjoefcet foill not hearken, ♦ ♦ ♦ E to til requite ft of fjtm. 



He that rejecieth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that 
judgeth him : the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him 
in the last day. — John xii. 48. 

LET me confront my soul with this solemn truth. The 
word of Jesus is to be my judge. In a court of jus- 
tice the judge pronounces the sentence, but it is the law 
that condemns the criminal. In the same way the Lord 
Jesus, as the final judge, will pronounce my sentence ; but 
it is the word which judges and condemns. 

How solemn then is the relation in which we stand to the 
words of Jesus ! We have been familiar with them from 
childhood; they will remain in our memory and will rise up 
to witness against us at the judgment. They would carry 
their own condemnation with them even though the judge 
were silent; but the words which Christ spoke were words 
of mercy. Oh, how dreadful to be condemned by the very 
words which Christ spoke in mercy and for our salvation ! 

Think, O my soul, have I declined his words of warning, 
have I rejected his words of promise, have I perverted his 
words of mercy into words of judgment ? 

But the Christian who believes and obeys Christ's words 
need have no apprehension. " There is no condemnation to 
them that are in Christ Jesus." Christ himself will witness 
for them, saying, " I gave them my words and they received 
them, for they are thine, and all thine are mine, and I am 
glorified in them." 



Deut. xviii. 19. 





Lord, in this thy mercy's day 

Ere from us it pass away 

On our knees we fall and pray. 



Judge and Saviour of our race, 
Grant us when we see thy face 
With thy ransomed ones a place. 



Isaac Williams. 



May 23 



En ijttn bcrflgi ts tfjt lo&r of (fioti prrfmrt. — 1 joimii. 5. 

He that hath my commandments , a?id keepeth them, he it is that 
Iffveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I 
will love him, a?id will manifest myself to him, — John xiv. 21. 

WHO will fathom the depth of this wonderful saying of 
Jesus ? It contains words of direction and words of 
promise for all Christians. 

Here we find the true test of spiritual life. We often tor- 
ture ourselves with questions like these, " Am I indeed a 
Christian ? Do I really love Jesus ? " We fear that our 
feelings for him have not the warmth and rapture that should 
be found in his followers. But Jesus tells us that obedience 
— " keeping his commandments'' — is the only trustworthy 
evidence of love. Let us not be disheartened because we 
know little of the inward raptures which some other Chris- 
tians enjoy. If we are striving for Christ's sake to do the 
good and right unto all men, we really love him who " went 
about doing good." If we are striving for Christ's sake to 
forgive our persecutors and slanderers, we really love him 
who prayed on the cross, u Father, forgive them, they know 
not what they do." An obedient life is the sure token of a 
loving heart. 

How precious and inspiring are the privileges here as- 
sured to those whose obedience proves them to be "the lovers 
of Jesus." They become in a special sense the beloved of 
the Father. The Saviour feels that they are linked to him 
by the tenderest ties. They enjoy continual and increasing 
revelations of the glory and power and beauty of Christ. 




Abide in me ! there have been moments blest 

When I have heard thy voice and felt thy power ; 

When evil lost its grasp ; and passion hushed, 
Owned the divine enchantment of the hour. 

MRS. H. B. STOVTE. 



May 24. 



OEe Iofcre Jjtm, because fje first label! tts. — 1 John iv. 19. 

Zfer sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much ; but 
to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. — Luke vii. 47. 

PURITY and gentleness incarnate have crossed the path 
of sin and shame. Had either been alone, the purity 
had made her cower away blinded by excessive light, while 
gentleness alone could convey no promise of help, but to- 
gether they have inspired a faith which enables her to face 
the Pharisee's proud scorn : and lo ! she finds them linked 
to a Power which can forgive sins also. Humbled and 
melted she will unobtrusively pour out the wealth of her 
heart upon the feet of that One who alone "hath power on 
earth to forgive sins.*' Her love and gratitude are propor- 
tioned to her sense of former guilt and ill-desert, while both 
enhance the value of that grace " unmerited and free" which 
has brought to her the consciousness of pardon. It was not 
that in the eyes of the Master her guilt was intrinsically 
greater than that of the cold, hard Pharisee, but that in her 
consciousness of sin her perception of all the sins of others 
lost itself. To affirm that she was forgiven because she 
loved much would be to misrepresent the whole teaching of 
the parable, for the love was not the spring but the evidence 
of the forgiveness, — the strength of the one indicating the 
extent of the other. 

It is when we know how much we have owed and how 
much we have been forgiven that the measure of love and 
gratitude overflow. 




Nought can I bring, dear Lord, for all I owe ; 

Yet let my full heart what it can bestow. 

Like Mary's gift, let my devotion prove, 

Forgiven greatly, how I greatly love. s. j. stone. 



May 25. 



(5M> ♦ ♦ ♦ fjatfj ♦ ♦ . spoken unto us bg fjfs Son. 

Heb. i. 1, 2. 

He that loveth me not keepetJi not my sayings : and the word that 
ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. — John xiv. 24. 

THE highest test of love to Christ is obedience at the 
cost of any self-denial or sacrifice, and the most essen- 
tial qualification for receiving the manifestations of his 
love. When Jesus said, "It is my meat and drink to do 
the will of him that sent me," he disclosed the secret of his 
perfect union and communion with the Father; and when 
we can say from the heart that we delight to do the will of 
Christ as revealed in the word of the Father, then do we 
enter into fellowship with him, and he "manifests him- 
self unto us as he does not unto the world." Disobedience 
closes every avenue of the soul against the manifestations 
of Christ's love, as shutting the blinds and drawing the 
curtains excludes the warm light of the sun. Just to the 
extent we feel that the commands of Christ are grievous 
and irksome, imposing unreasonable self-denials, do we dis- 
qualify ourselves for receiving and reciprocating the tokens 
of his love. 

Blessed is the disciple who can say, "Thy statutes are 
the rejoicing .of my heart ; more to be desired are they than 
gold, yea, than much fine gold ; sweeter also than honey and 
the honeycomb : thy precepts are my songs in the house of 
my pilgrimage : " heavenly visions and moments of trans- 
figuration are awaiting him in the closet, the sanctuary, and 
at the sacramental table. 




Let us obey ; we then shall know, 

Shall feel our sins forgiven, 
Anticipate our heaven below, 

And own that love is heaven. 

C. Wesley. 



May 26. 



#ot bg toarks of righteousness rjaljtef} Int fjarje bane. 

Titus iii. 5. 

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . Except a man be bom of water 
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. — John 



THESE wonderful words of the Lord Jesus were spoken 
to Nicodemus, a Jewish gentleman, a Pharisee, and a 
ruler and master in Israel, who - came to Jesus at the first 
by night." Observe closely the four " Aniens " which are 
translated by as many "Verilys " in our English New Testa- 
ment, "Amen ! Amen! I say unto thee." The great Teach- 
er speaks with authority as "the Amen, the faithful and 
true Witness/' Mark the new birth of which he testifies. 
" Except a man [Nicodemus, or any other man] be born 
again,'' — or from above, as the margin reads. — "born of 
water and the Spirit," whose chosen emblem is the cleansing 
water. This is God's way of making a sinful man over again, 
-a new creature in Christ Jesus." with a new heart and a 
new spirit, ''by the washing of regeneration and the re- 
newing of the Holy Ghost. Note again the two "cannots : " 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom 
of God;" "he cannot enter the kingdom of God." But 
by the new birth he becomes the child of a king, "a king 
and a priest unto God," "an heir of God and a joint-heir 
with Jesus Christ" to ' ; the kingdom prepared for him from 
the foundation of the world." 




Nor alms, nor deeds, that I have done 
Can for a single sin atone ; 
To Calvary alone I flee. 
O God, be' merciful to me ! 



CORNELIUS ELVEN. 



May 27. 



En mt ts tijme ijclp. — Hosea xiii. 9. 

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou may est be 
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; a7id that the 
shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye- 
salve, that thou mayest see. — Rev. iii. 18. 

HERE we have a letter from heaven, the last letter from 
Jesus addressed to men. Every soul has an inter- 
est in it. The Laodiceans still live, though their city and 
church have perished. Observe : 1. He discovers the sad 
state of the church, "lukewarm," — the worst of the seven, 
nothing good is said of it. 2. He reveals its ignorance of its 
miserable condition, supposing itself rich when it was poor 
and blind and naked. 3. He announces the ignominious fate 
of such a church, " spewed out " with disgust, as a nauseating 
lotion. 

Let men take warning. Jesus then mercifully offers them 
the sovereign remedy for all their ills : 1. He counsels them 
to buy fire-tried gold which will make them "rich toward 
God." This buying is " without money," for it is the riches 
of Christ, the gift of God. 2. He counsels them to buy white 
raiment of him to clothe their nakedness. That is the blood- 
washed robe of his own righteousness. No other garment 
will admit us to the marriage-supper. Only such can ever 
" enter through the gate into the city." 3. Finally, he coun- 
sels them to anoint their blind eyes with eye-salve, with the 
illumination of the Holy Spirit, that they may see God and 
live. 




My heart lies dead ; and no increase 

Doth my dull husbandry improve. 
Oh, let thy graces, without cease, 

Drop from above. George Herbert. 



May 28. 



Etrfj unto all tfjat call upon firm, — Romans x. 12. 

O woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt. — 
Matt. xv. 28. 

WHAT a wonderful concession this, of the grace of 
Jesus Christ ! It suggests the omnipotence of de- 
termined faith. It illustrates what we may regard as a law 
in the higher realm of spiritual relations and results. In it 
there would seem to be not only no conflict between sov- 
ereignty and free agency, but the sovereignty of God would 
seem, by his gracious permission, to have passed over into 
the agency of his child, — the child a sovereign of grace. 
We may call it one of the great moral equations of the Bible, 
the " Be it unto thee " of the Master being in exact equipoise 
with the " As thou wilt " of the believer. The woman's faith 
was "great" in kind, — by virtue of the vital energy, the 
courage to face discouraging conditions, the skill in pleading, 
which it embodied. Such a faith as this, though seeming 
" as a grain of mustard seed," shall avail great things. That 
faith is always great which admits no element of unbelief, 
and so, great in degree. 

In particular, why should we not believe that Christ is as 
willing to save men from their sins as he was to heal the Sy- 
rophcenician woman's daughter ? And why may we not sup- 
pose it a certainty that when we present our appeal for the 
salvation of sinners with as much earnestness and dexterity 
as this woman used, — their grievous condition resting with 
equal heaviness on the heart, — the blessing will in his own 
time be granted ? 




Thou art coming to a king, 
Large petitions with thee bring ; 
For his grace and power are such, 
None can ever ask too much. 



John Newton. 



May 29. 



I foil! fit&e gou pastors according to mine fjeari 

Jer. iii. 15. 

harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few ; pray ye 
therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers 
into his harvest. — Matt. ix. 37, 38. 

SUCH is the duty enjoined by Christ upon his disciples. 
It indicates both the object and the plan of his work. 
He was a missionary sent to save sinners. Every pulsation 
of his heart throbs in sympathy with sinners ; every utterance 
of his lips, every act of his life, his dying agonies, and all his 
appointments, contemplate the salvation of sinners. 

In the accomplishment of his purposes Jesus employs 
human agency. His Church is a grand missionary organiza- 
tion, — the light of the world and the salt of the earth, the 
repository and the source of saving influences. The living 
ministry is the grand leading instrumentality which he em- 
ploys in the execution of his work. Its business is to reap 
and garner the harvest. In view of the magnitude of the 
work, the vastness of the harvest, and the inadequacy of the 
laborers, Jesus still as emphatically commands his followers, 
as he did his disciples while upon earth, to pray for an increase 
of laborers ; and they, prompted by the yearnings of their own 
hearts, cheerfully obey his command. And while they thus 
pray, they freely give of their means, their time, and influence 
to secure an answer to their prayers. Effectual prayer and 
the use of the means necessary to obtain the blessing sought, 
like living faith and works, are always conjoined. 

Saints of God ! the dawn is brightening, 

Token of our coming Lord ; 
O'er the earth the field is whitening ; 

Louder rings the Master's word, — 
" Pray for reapers 

In the harvest of the Lord." mrs. maxwell. 



May 30. 



If rue sag tfjat foe fjafo no sin, foe taetue aursclbeg, 

1 John i. 8. 

If ye were blind, ye should have no sin : but now ye say, We 
see ; therefore your sin remaineth. — John ix. 41. 

OUR Lord means by these words that if those who were 
rejecting his moral allegiance were really blind they 
would not incur sin. But since they were rejoicing in their 
light, the fact of their sin remained. Where there is no law 
there is no sin, and where there is no light there is no shadow. 
So then whenever we see a law of God and act regardless of 
it. or wherever we recognize a sin and yet indulge in it. Ave 
bring our consciousness to be our own judge, we make our 
very light the revelation of our moral darkness. 




Blame not the times in which you live, 

Nor fortune frail and fugitive : 

Blame not thy parents, nor the rule 

Of vice or wrong once learned at school ; 

But blame thyself, O man ! 

Although both heaven and earth combined 

To mould thy flesh and form thy mind. 

Though every thought, word, action, will, 

Were framed by powers beyond thee ; still 

Thou art thyself, O man ! 

And self to take or leave is free, 

Feeling its own sufficiency ; 

In spite of science, spite of fate, 

The judge within thee soon or late 

Will blame but thee. O man ! 

Sav not, I would, but could not; he 

Should bear the blame who fashioned me. 

Call vou mere change of motive, choice ? 

Scorning such pleas, the inner voice 

Cries, " Thine the deed, O man ! " 



May 31. 



33Icss tfjc 3Lorti, © mg soul — Psalm civ. 2. 

Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? — Luke 
xvii. 17. 

WE have here an example of ingratitude so base as to 
call forth from our Saviour the above exclamation. 
When we consider the persons (lepers), their need, their 
helplessness, their prayer, and what was done for them, the 
very deed witnessing and declaring who it was that thus 
gave them life, — snatching them by a word out of the jaws 
of a living death. — and furthermore when we consider their 
ingratitude as shown by their conduct, who can help won- 
dering? But let us ask ourselves if our treatment of our 
Saviour is any less wonderful? The disease which afflicted 
them affected the body: it could not destroy the soul. Ours 
affects both soul and body. 

Moved by his love for us. our Saviour left his throne, 
came to earth, became a man. paid the penalty for our sins, 
ransoming us by his own blood, thereby becoming our Re- 
deemer. And he now offers us without money and without 
price, peace, pardon, a sonship in heaven: he offers us all 
this, waits to bestow it upon us. if we will but accept. And 
we, what is our conduct ? 

Oh. bless the Lord, my soul ! 

Nor let his mercies lie 
Forgotten in unthankfulness, 

And without praises die. 

watts. 



June i. 



Wit also spotlit! fealfe m nefoness of life, — Romans vi. 4. 

Follow me ; and let the dead bury their dead. — Matt. viii. 22. 

HE who spoke these words " bare our sicknesses," and 
wept at a grave side. There was, then, in this start- 
ling injunction no lack of sympathy with human sorrow, but 
rather a holy impatience of conventional customs which 
engross his servants at the expense of their work. The 
Lord here speaks not only to a man likely to be detained 
during long-protracted funeral ceremonies, but through him 
to all in all ages who might be liable to yield unduly to this 
world's fashion and custom. " The king's business requireth 
haste ! " " Seek ye first the kingdom of God." How it would 
simplify all our life if we who claim to be Christians would 
obey the Lord in this, and would trust that " all these things 
shall be added," whether it be the burial of a dead father, 
or the supply of daily needs ! Surely the few who live unto 
God in this world may more and more leave the convention- 
alisms of the world to those who, living in worldly pleasure, 
" are dead while they live," and be single-eyed in the service 
of the Master ! And surely he who says, " I come quickly," 
if he felt a sharp word was needed to be given to this can- 
didate for discipleship, would speak a far more solemn word 
to many called by his name to-day, whose Christianity is 
little more than an inheritance, not a personal conviction, 
and whose lagging footsteps are so easily clogged by their 
very culture and the resources of civilization, whose " loins " 
are #0/" girded," whose "lights " are not '"burning,'' and who, 
calling themselves servants, do not ;; wait for their Lord." 



Jesus calls us o'er the tumult 

Of our life's wild, restless sea ; 
Day by day his sweet voice soundeth, 

Saying, Christian, follow me ! 

Mrs. C. F. Alexander. 




June 2. 



©tJ}er foundation can no man lag. — 1 Cor. iii. n. 

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 
I will liken him iinto a ivise man, which built his house upo?i a rock : 
and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upo7i 
a rock. — Matt. vii. 24, 25. 

^T^H ERE FORE, — because " many in that day" who in 
£ this life " work iniquity," Jesus will bid " depart." 

These sayings of mine, — the sermon, enjoining a re- 
ligion of the heart, a life of prayer, and penitent seeking after 
God ; the sermon too, as expanded and explained in his 
future teachings, — for example, prayer, answered only for 
Christ's sake, " Ask in my name ; " forgiveness, given only 
through Christ's death, " My blood, shed for the remission 
of sins." Doeth them, — yi elding to Christ as God, for he 
gives the law and will judge the world. " / say unto you," 
" Then will / profess unto them ; " submission to God, " Thy 
will be done ; " loving and trusting God, " Seek first his 
kingdom and righteousness." A renowned editor wrote, 
" My creed is the Sermon on the Mount. Live by that and 
you will be saved." " Yes," replied a college president, 
"but no one ever did; and if that is the only way of life, none 
can hope." Yet none build on the rock but those who do 
these sayings of Christ; that is, who have in some degree 
the kind of spirit he here describes, and which for his sake 
is accepted, whether the penitent knows it or not, instead 
of perfect obedience. 




My hope is built on nothing less 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness ; 
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, 
All other ground is sinking sand. 

EDWARD MOTE. 



June 3. 



0}g face, 3Lorft, brill £ scefc. — Psalm xxvii. 8. 

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things 
to the?n that ask him ? — Matt. vii. n. 

HOW wonderful it seems. God plying men with consid- 
erations why they shall pray, arguing to make them 
bold! This is the nature of all his promises, pledges ad- 
dressed to our faith. "Put me in remembrance: let us 
plead together.*' For himself he would not have us say, 
"for Christ's sake," as a ground for our acceptance before 
we can be heard, but because the repetition will assure us 
of our power in the all-prevailing Name. Our want of faith 
is the occasion for the argument. The persuasion is to be 
of ourselves. "If ye. being evil, etc.,*' The "being evil*' 
is a shadow; but it can only modify, it cannot restrain the 
generous impulses of parental love. But divine love is the 
clear shining of a cloudless sky, the glad melody of an unim- 
peded stream. Two arguments are addressed to our faith : 
First, God shall give more abmida7itly, according to the 
incomparable fulness of his grace. Second, he shall give 
more appropriately, according to his infinitely wise compre- 
hension of our want. Our human love is borne up to its 
loftiest round that it may perceive the love of God stretch- 
ing inimitably beyond it. 

And dost thou say, " Ask what thou wilt " ? 

Lord, I would seize the golden hour ; 
I pray to be released from guilt 

And freed from sin and Satan's power. 

John Newton. 



June 4. 



TOfjo gabe Jjt'mgelf for our sing. — Gal. i. 4. 

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem ; and the Son of man shall be be- 
trayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall cott- 
demn him to death, and shall deliver htm to the Gettiiles to mock, and 
to scourge, aitd to crucify him ; and the third day he shall rise again, 
— Matt. xx. 18, 19. 

NEVER had there been such a going up to Jerusalem 
as that which Jesus here proposes to his disciples. 
Jesus goes up voluntarily. The act was not enforced by 
any external compulsion. Jerusalem might at this time have 
been avoided. It was deliberately sought. Jesus was hereby 
fulfilling the Father's will, executing the mission upon which 
he had been sent. It was after this journey that he said, " I 
have finished the work thou gavest me to do." His going 
up was a part of that work. Hence it was right for him to 
go up, although he knew that betrayal, arrest, condemnation, 
and crucifixion awaited him. It was a going up to a triumph 
to be reached through defeat, a coronation to be attained 
through ignominy and humiliation (Heb. ii. 9). 

O believer, in your walk through the world to-day, be 
strengthened, be comforted, be inspired, by the specta- 
cle of the Captain of your salvation thus going up to Jeru- 
salem ! And remember in all those apparently downward 
passages of life where sorrow, and it may be death, lie be- 
fore you, that all such descents made or endured in the 
spirit of Jesus are really ufigoings, steps leading you to the 
mount of God and the resurrection-glory. 




E'en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me ! 
Still all my song shall be, 
Nearer, my God, to thee, 

Nearer to thee ! mrs. s. f. adams. 



June 5. 



Pf atfj gtfren fjtntgelf for its an offering. — Eph. v. 2. 

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, 
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down 
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it 
again. This commandment have I received of my Father. — John x. 
17, 18. 

CHRIST here asserts his own absolute freedom and vol- 
untariness in dying. No act of self-sacrifice can be 
conceived of as more unforced. It is the model and warrant, 
as it has been the inspiration of every noble act of self-devo- 
tion from that time till now. He was under no obligation 
in the first place to throw his own body across the track 
along which remorseless death was rushing upon man- 
kind. Every step on the road to Calvary he took shrinking 
yet resolved. His innocent, sensitive nature appreciated 
the torture, the shame, the horror of the death-pang; but 
he went forward to meet them. The betrayal, the arrest, 
the consent of Pilate, the rude violence of the Roman sol- 
diery were only prearranged parts of the process by which 
his voluntary sacrifice was to be consummated. There was 
no power in the universe less than God's that could have 
reft his life without his own consent. Up to the last expir- 
ing cry, all was free ; the most stupendous act of self-sacri- 
fice the world has ever seen. 

Do you love him as you ought, O man, for such a shame, 
for such a death endured for you ; and will you learn from 
such an example to make some sacrifice at least for the 
good of others ? 




fiCa* vt^£ i/fC 




This was compassion, like a God, 
That when the Saviour knew 

The price of pardon was his blood 
His pity ne'er withdrew. 



watts. 



June 6. 



Sfc Ijatfj filleli tfje Jjungrg 6ritij grjoti tfjmgs.— Luke i. 53. 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : 
for they shall be filled. — Matt. v. 6. 

IF we would take these words by the heart we must make 
sure of these vital truths concerning them, — 
First, as to their character. They are not a promise ; they 
are not a law. A promise is founded on conditions : a law 
is subject to repeal and amendment. They are the fourth 
article in the constitution of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
John had declared that the kingdom was at hand. Jesus be- 
gan his reign in the new kingdom by announcing to the world 
its constitution, — the Beatitudes. The constitution is the 
eternal, unchangeable truth back of all promises and laws. 
Make sure of these Beatitudes, and you are at home in all 
worlds, in time and in eternity*. These truths have reigned 
in the mind and heart of God from the beginning. 

In the second place, be sure to note that the Beatitude is 
pronounced upon hunger and thirst, — our symbols of unrest 
and pain and poverty. To be cursed is to be full and con- 
tented and lodged in a nest. To be blessed is to be shaken 
out of our nest and compelled to develop both our wits and 
our wings in the endless quest of spiritual food. 

In the third place, do not fail to notice that it is that very 
simple, fundamental thing, righteousness, which we are to 
seek with consuming desire. Rightness, not spiritual peace, 
not grace, not soul power, but rlrst and last rightness with 
God and men. When Rightness is enthroned in the holy of 
holies her train of joys and graces will fill the temple. 




He leads me to the place 

Where heavenly pasture grows, 
Where living waters gently pass, 

And full salvation flows. \ 



watts. 



June 7. 



STfje ttprtgfjt gJjall Jjafre tmmmum. — Psalm xiix. 14. 

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to 
him will I give power over the nations : and he shall rule them 
with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to 
shivers : even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the 
morning star. — Rev. ii. 26-28. 

THE promise given to conquering fidelity is here expressed 
in most striking and impressive terms. It is nothing 
less than complete and unbroken dominion over the nations. 

In his ideal republic, Plato dreamed of a golden age when 
all kings should be philosophers, and all philosophers should 
be kings ; how transcendently does the heavenly kingdom 
surpass that of the philosophical dreamer, for there all kings 
shall be saints, and all saints shall be kings. 

The morning star is here the image of the glory of the 
kingdom. It is frequently associated with the sceptre, as the 
star of Jacob in the prophecy of Balaam (Numbers xxiv. 17). 

This destined inheritance, so unspeakably great, is for him 
that overcometh, and keepeth Christ's works. True religion 
is not spasmodic, it is not a thing of times and seasons. Vic- 
tory and its rewards are for him only who continues in well- 
doing, who keeps the faith. Hold fast, then ; let no man take 
thy crown. 




Onward, ever onward, 
Journeying o'er the road 

Worn by saints before us, 
Journeying on to God. 



Leaving all behind us 
May we hasten on ; 

Backward never looking 
Till the prize is won. 

GODFREY THRING. 



June 8. 



I fja&c gibm Jjtm for a tottncss to tijc proplr. 

Isaiah lv. 4. 

Thou say est that I a??i a king. To this end was I born, and for 
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. — Johx 
xviii. 37. 

JESUS elsewhere calls himself the truth. Here he states 
it to be the purpose not only of his birth as a man but 
ot his coming into the world as the pre-existent Son of God 
to bear witness to the truth. Never was such testimony 
given by such a being to such a fact, as was rendered by him 
who at the last before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good con- 
fession. The glad tidings were attested not only by Jesus, 
the Truth, but by the Father, in the works he wrought through 
his holy Son, and in the word he spoke from heaven. Yet 
even such testimony may be disregarded, rejected. Those 
who had not God's word abiding in them refused to believe 
him whom God sent. For effectual hearing, there must be a 
congruity in the recipient ; he must be " of the truth,*" — one 
who is eager to know and ready to do God"s will. To him 
God makes himself known : and he believes, not because of 
the words of others, but because he has himself heard Jesus, 
and knows that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world. 




Oh, for a strong, a lasting faith 
To credit what the Almighty saith ; 
To embrace the message of his Son. 
And call the jovs of heaven our own. 

watts. 



June 9. 



SE&at ge put on tfje xizba man. — Eph. iv. 24. 

Either make the tree good, and his fruit good ; or else ?nake the tree 
corrupt, and his fruit corrupt : for the tree is k?town by his fruit. — 
Matt. xii. 33. 

IN this world of "vain shows," shams, semblances, and 
self-deceptions, we need every hour some certain test by 
which to distinguish the true from the false. Such a touch- 
stone the Master here furnishes us in his inimitable nature- 
teaching manner in the tree. " The tree is known by its 
fruit." The fruit is the only true thing about the tree. All 
things else are mere accidents and appendages, preludes, 
preparations, and promises ; that upon which the tree expends 
all its labors and exhausts all its nature, and into which it 
pours its whole life, is its fruit. Its leaves and blossoms 
fade and fall, its branches wither, itself dies ; but its fruit, en- 
wrapping a living seed, springs up it may be in another 
garden on a distant continent, and lives on and on, reproduc- 
ing itself forever, the only immortal thing of earth. So 
character, the expression of the whole nature, the product 
of the whole life's activities, the one reality which abides 
amid all changes, the only immortal thing about man, is the 
only infallible touchstone by which we can test ourselves 
and others. Professions and promises, however fair, are 
worthless as the faded leaves and blossoms of summer 
where they do not ripen into the fruits of holiness; and the 
fruitless tree is fit only for the burning. Reader, let me be- 
seech you to try yourself by this test, and remember it is for 
your life. 




So let our lips and lives express 

The holy gospel we profess ; 

So let our works and virtues shine, 

To prove the doctrine all divine, watts. 



June io. 



Chosen > > in fjttn Move tlje fciuntiation of tTjc rjaorlti. 

Eph. i. 4. 

Then shall the King say unto them on his right ha7id, Conie, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundatioji of the world. — Matt. xxv. 34. 

IT is the great and notable day of the Lord. He who came 
; - in weakness clad " to be, as the Son of man. the Saviour 
of the world, by offering himself once for all an atoning ex- 
piation for sin upon the cross, has come in the power and 
majesty of heavenly glory to judge the world in righteous- 
ness and mete out to men their eternal doom. See how his 
lowly, faithful followers fare! On earth it cost them self- 
crucifixion and the bitter contempt of men to confess the 
Lord and follow him ; now they are recognized, welcomed by 
the King of kings, and greeted as sharers of his glory. For 
his sake and the gospel's they had become poor, naked out- 
casts ; now for the trashy perishable tinsel and trinkets they 
had dropped, they receive treasures pure and true which 
shall endure forever. They had counted all things but loss 
so they might win Christ: through abounding grace they 
had won Christ and heaven and shall rejoice eternally in the 
full possession of that -'inheritance which is incorruptible, 
underiled. and shall endure forever." Were they deceived 
in their trust, hope, and obedience ? Does the reward equal 
the promise? Ask them! Xay, rather, "be followers of 
them who through faith and patience inherit the promises : " 
then shall their exceeding joy be yours. 




Judge and Saviour of our race, 
Grant us, when we see thy face, 
With thy ransomed ones a place. 

I. Williams. 



June ii. 



©0I1 fjatfj re&ealeti tljem uttto us 6g fjts Spirit. 



i Cor. ii. 10. 



Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into 
all truth : for he shall not speak of himself ; but whatsoever he shall 
hear, that shall he spxak: and he will shew you things to come. He 
shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto 
you. — John xvi. 13, 14. 

WHEN Jesus went back to heaven, he sent another 
divine Person, the Spirit of truth, to take his place, 
carry forward his work, and to abide with his followers. On 
the day of Pentecost that Spirit came from heaven in mighty 
power and filled the disciples, and has been here ever since 
as a teacher and a guide. Unless he reveals them unto us, 
we cannot understand the things of God. Every believer 
needs to be taught by him out of the Scriptures. With the 
words of Christ in our hands and this Spirit in our hearts, 
we are led into true and blessed knowledge of God, which 
is life eternal. The weakest believer thus taught may know 
far more of God than the wisest man of this world. 

This, divine Teacher reveals to the believer the glories of 
Christ Jesus as they shine in the written Word. He is the 
Advocate of an absent Christ and pleads his cause. He en- 
ables us to see the matchless beauty of the character and 
life of our Redeemer, and makes him glorious in the eyes 
of all them that believe. If we open wide our hearts to this 
blessed person and do not grieve him by our sins, he will 
guide us into the fulness of the knowledge and joy of our 
Lord. 




He teaches us the Father's grace, 
Reveals to us the Saviour's face, 
And doth to all our hearts declare 
The glory it is ours to share. 



Mrs. M. J. Walker. 



June 12. 



©otilmess fattij contentment ts great gam« — 1 Tim. vi. 6. 

Take heed, and beware of covetousness : for a man's life consisteth 
not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. — Luke 
xii. 15. 

HERE we have a solemn command evoked by a striking 
incident and backed up by a pertinent reason. The 
command itself is cumulative in form. " Take heed and 
beware." If we carefully consider what covetousness is 
in its nature and tendencies, we will diligently avoid it. 
" Take heed." Meditate upon the tenth commandment as 
well as repeat it ; revolve in mind how discontent with our 
lot dishonors God, how envy of the apparent happiness of 
others destroys brotherly sympathy, how covetousness kills 
generosity, stifles good impulses, and stands in the way of 
that charity which " suffereth long and is kind " because it 
" envieth not." And having taken heed, " beware ! " Set 
a watch on every thought and motive that tends toward 
envy. Be strict with yourself and generous with others. 
Covetousness creeps in unnoticed, and you will be startled 
to find it appearing in heart and life. Hence the need of 
being " war}*," vigilant. 

The incident out of which this command grew is very 
striking (v. 13). The dividing of inheritances has been in 
all the ages a fruitful source of covetousness. Envy is 
" as rottenness in the bones." How soon envy entered into 
the world ! The first sin was Adam's pride; and the second, 
perhaps, was Cain's envy. 




The Lord my shepherd is ; 

I shall be well supplied. 
Since he is mine, and I am his, 

What can I want beside ? watts. 



June 13. 



2Tfje fire sfjall trg zbzx£ man's faorft. — 1 Cor. Hi. 13. 

Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be 
rooted up. — Matt. xv. 13. 

r I ^HIS is one of our Lord's enigmatical replies. His dis- 



1 ciples had informed him that the Pharisees had taken 
offence at certain of his remarks. Without commenting on 
their conduct, he points his followers to a future when all 
error and malice will be brought to nought. He thought it 
better to impress a truth on his friends than to confute his 
enemies. 

We are taught by Christ's words that we are not always 
to take the responsibility of opposing openly that which we 
disapprove, but that we may at times leave it to the provi- 
dence of God to thwart and defeat the evil practices and 
false opinions of others. We are taught also that our own 
characteristics and cherished habits are to be estimated in 
view of the source from which they came. The question 
respecting our plans and occupations is not, Are they at- 
tractive ? Do they comport with our pride or our place in the 
world ? but, Are they of God ? They will be surely rooted 
up unless they derive their support from him. Most cheering 
of all is the truth that what God has planted will abide for- 
ever. The seeds which Christ sows in the heart will spring 
up and bear fruit unless we permit them to be snatched away 
or to be choked by weeds of which an enemy has sown the 
seed. The fruits of the Spirit will always be cherished by 
the heavenly Father. 






O Master, point thou out the way, 
Nor suffer thou our steps to stray ; 
Then in that path that leads to day, 



We follow thee. 



H. BONAR. 



June 14. 



2Tfje fttngliom of ©oti . • ♦ jog m tlje Pfolrj ©fjost 

Romans xiv. 17. 

These things have I spoken unto you, that 7ny joy might remain in 
yon, and that your joy might be full. — John xv. ii. 

THESE things are all the words of Christ but especially 
those spoken in the two preceding verses, where his 
joy is traced directly to his Father's love, resting on him in 
the keeping of his commandments, as our joy comes from 
his love while doing his will. My joy and your joy are fruits 
of the Vine mentioned a little while before. Indeed, this joy 
is the very wine of the Christian life. It is not so much one 
of the fruits of the Spirit as the resultant of them all. The 
joy of Christ here is not the blessedness he had with the 
Father before the worlds were, but the joy that was set 
before him for enduring the cross and despising the shame. 
So the joy of his people when full will far transcend the 
happiness of primeval man. 

How amazing is the absence of joy in the average Chris- 
tian experience, seeing it is not only the logical result of 
salvation, but that Christ has made special provision for 
it in his continued communion with his people! He bears 
the thought with him a little while afterward into the holy 
of holies, and prays, " And now I come to thee, and these 
things I speak in the world that they might have my joy 
fulfilled in themselves." 

My merry heart is springing, 

And knows not how to pine ; 
'T is full of joy and singing 

And radiancy divine. 
The sun whose smiles so cheer me 

Is Jesus Christ alone ; 
To have him always near me, 

Is heaven itself begun. 

RICHARD MASSIE {Translation). 



June 15. 



put an ♦ ♦ ♦ as tfje elect of (goti . . . fcafoete'of mercies. 

Col. iii. 12. 

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. — 
Luke vi. 36. 

THE Pagan philosophers, who spake as men, taught that 
justice is a duty required of all men. Our divine 
Master, who spake as never man spake, goes farther and en- 
joins upon his disciples mercy as a Christian duty. Mercy 
consists of kindness that goes beyond all the requirements of 
justice, and does for men more and better than their merits 
deserve. We have no merit in the sight of God : therefore 
all his goodness toward us is the gift of his mercy. Our 
God is the Father of mercies, and he is kind unto the un- 
thankful and to the evil. Therefore, saith our Saviour, we 
should be merciful and love our enemies, and do good to 
those who would do us evil. This is an original and peculiar 
law of our Christianity, and it proves that it is not of the 
earth, but from heaven. Mercy in the heart of man is a 
grace that is all divine, and one which makes the man more 
manful and more than a man, — it makes him a Christian. 
" The meek shall inherit the earth." The merciful shall 
obtain mercy, and with Christ shall inherit all things. 




Come, thou Spirit of pure love, 

Who didst forth from God proceed, 
Never from my heart remove. 

Let me all thy impulse heed ; 
Let my heart hence forward be 
Moved, controlled, inspired by thee. 

CATHARINE WlNKWORTH (Translation). 



June 16. 



Habourers together tottfj @oi. — i Cor. Hi. 9. 

//to reapeth receiveth wtges, and gather eth fruit unto life 
eter7ial : that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice 
together. — John iv. 36. 

THE cheering lesson of this verse is that immediate re- 
sults often follow Christian work. Usually seed-time 
and harvest are divided by a considerable interval of time ; 
but here we learn that they may follow in quick succession. 
This cheering truth is impressed by our Lord's experience, 
when, as the result of his wayside sowing in his words to the 
woman of Samaria, a rich harvest was reaped on the selfsame 
day. So it was on the day of Pentecost, and so it has been 
in many other instances when the Spirit of God has given 
the truth immediate power, and the sower and the reaper 
have rejoiced together. 

An insight is also given us into the nature of Christian 
service. It is a co-operative system, and God is a liberal 
master. He gives those who work for him a share in the 
profits that accrue, — that is, the blessings and results that 
follow such work. " He that reapeth receiveth wages." The 
Master here distinctly encourages us to expect immediate 
results in Christian work at home and abroad, and happy are 
they who midst the tears of sowing hear the joyous shout 
of the reapers. 



The harvest dawn is near, 

The year delays not long; 
And he who sows with many a tear, 

Shall reap with many a song 

GEORGE BURGESS. 



June 17. 



^0 first fintetfj fjts oton brother. —John i. 41. 

C<? /foz/Zt? to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord 
hath done for thee, a?zd hath had compassio?i on thee. — Mark v. 19. 

THE command had peculiar significance as given to the 
man out of whom Christ had sent the unclean spirits. 
In the case of the leper at Capernaum, or the deaf and dumb 
sufferer subsequently in Decapolis, the excitement was al- 
ready so great about the miracle-worker that Christ's work 
was in danger of serious obstruction. But here and now 
in accord with the wishes and entreaties of their unbelief, 
Christ was already on board the vessel that was to take him 
across the lake, and his cause must suffer. So this healed 
demoniac from the tombs, a signal monument of his mercy, 
must go to places from which Christ in his own person was 
debarred, to testify of Christ's power. And he did go among 
his friends at home, and subsequently to the south in Decap- 
olis proclaiming the wonder-working power of Jesus with 
blessed results. It was a far nobler work, too, for him thus 
to go where those who knew him before and dreaded him 
before could now see the great change and hear him tell 
what Christ had done than to go where he was unknown. 
The man himself where he was known of old was a monu- 
ment now of Christ's healing mercy. So, too, Christ's direc- 
tion to the man thus healed is one of significance for every 
one of us who has felt spiritually Christ's healing power. 

Our first and best testimony as to any change Christ has 
wrought in us is always given at home, among our friends 
and those who know us best. 

A piety that cannot stand such a test, a piety that lan- 
guishes at home, is to be suspected. 




Thanks we give, and adoration, 

For thy gospel's joyful sound. 
May the fruits of thy'salvation 

In our hearts and lives abound ! Robert haw] 



June 18. 



2Hjat no flesl} atfjoufo glorg in fjts presence. — i Cor. i. 29. 

Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings 
thou hast perfected fii-aise ? — Matt. xxi. 16. 

HOW beautiful the hosannas of childhood offered to him 
who said, " Suffer little children, and forbid them not, 
to come unto me " ! Cold formalism and pharisaic holiness 
would rebuke the approach of children to Jesus, and silence 
their songs in the temple. But the blessed Jesus welcomes 
their presence, and listens well-pleased to their hymns of 
praise. He indeed spoke w T ords of hope to the dying thief, 
and graciously regards the penitential tears of the hoary- 
headed sinner ; but still more is he pleased to receive into 
his favor and to his service those of early years. He would 
have their character early moulded into his likeness, and 
imbued with his spirit. He would have all from their ear- 
liest years devoted to his service in works of benevolence 
and piety. He would have the entire life. 

Yes, let the children come to Jesus. He waits to welcome 
them. To them is extended a special promise, "Those 
that seek me early shall find me." Let parents as they love 
their children, strive to bring them to Jesus. Let Sabbath- 
school teachers seek to lead those under their care to a 
saving knowledge of his truth. Let pastors remember the 
words of the Master, " Feed my lambs." Yes, dear children, 
come to Jesus. 




All glory, laud, and honor 

To thee, Redeemer, King, 
To whom the lips of children 

Made sweet hosannas ring. 

Thou didst accept their praises ; 

Accept the prayers we bring, 
Who in all good delightest, 

Thou good and gracious King. 

J. NEALE (Translation). 



June 19. 



©oilmcss fs profitable unto all tfjmgs. — 1 Tim. iv. 8. 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all 
these things shall be added unto you. — Matt. vi. 33. 

first, not exclusively : this is no rebuke to intens- 
est business devotion. Xor does ' ; first " mean merely 
in order of time, — say prayers in the morning, serve God on 
Sunday, the first day of the week, get religion in early life. 
" First " means chiefly, — serve God supremely, even in secu- 
lar matters. 

This does not imply that one shall be most of the time 
thinking about religious things. Our supreme secular pur- 
pose in going to business is to provide comfort for our fami- 
lies ; yet we hardly think of a loved face in business hours, 
except as in leisure moments it peers in through the window 
of the heart. But however absorbed in the scramble of 
trade, there is always over us a delightful, though vague, 
impression of home and its loves : just as there is always 
an impression of the sky over our heads, though we do not 
look up at it incessantly. So may the delightful sense of 
the kingdom of God environ us. the sceptre-shadow of his 
righteousness be always upon oar consciences, the benedic- 
tion of his love upon our hearts ! This feeling will add all 
good things to us, in that it will make all things good. It 
will mark everything we possess as a souvenir of infinite 
affection. 




Saviour, happy would I be, 
If I could but trust in thee, — 
Trust thy wisdom me to guide ; 
Trust thy goodness to provide ; 
Trust thy saving love and power ; 
Trust thee every dav and hour. 

Edwin h. Nevin. 



June 20. 



Pffe totfe Ioofteti imck — Gen. xix. 26. 

Remember Lofs wife, — Luke xvii. 32. 

OUR Lord was depicting scenes of the judgment day, 
and points to the shore of the Dead Sea, where Lot's 
wife built herself a monument, a piece of statuary, making 
a complete picture in itself. 

Why this injunction ? She was the type of the worldly- 
minded. "Remember," then, "the friends of the world 
are the enemies of God;" that Christ died "to deliver us 
from this present evil world," therefore, "he that forsaketh 
not all that he hath cannot be my disciple." " Remember," 
the time hastens when the world must be abandoned, love 
it as we may. We can carry nothing away ; the things of 
Sodom taken to Zoar would make a Sodom there, necessi- 
tating the fire that burns the world and the worldling. 

We must not only leave Sodom, but " linger not in the 
plain." Remember, if the separation from the world be not 
complete, it must soon be final, from God, home, friends, all. 
" Two shall be in the field, one shall be taken and the other 
left." 

" Remember," the love of the world perpetuates itself in 
the generations that follow ; the " lovers of pleasure, more 
than lovers of God," are seen in her daughters and descend- 
ants down through Moab and Ammon. 




Once earthly joy I craved, 

Sought peace and rest ; 
Xow thee alone I seek, 

Give what is best. 
This all my prayer shall be, 
More love, O Christ, to thee, 

More love to thee ! Mrs. e. p. prentiss. 



June 21. 



Wqz 3Lotti ♦ ♦ ♦ plenteous m mereg, — Psalm ciii. 8. 

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a 
great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran } and 
fell on his neck, and kissed him. — Luke xv. 20. 

A PICTURE of divine pity, forgiveness, and love more 
affecting than this it would be impossible to find ! In 
this parable we see not only to what degradation sin has 
brought a human soul, but we see also what divine compas- 
sion is felt for it, and what grace and love are lavished upon 
it. The instant the prodigal turns toward his father, that 
instant the father runs to meet him. Contrast the slow ap- 
proach of the son with the eager haste of the father running 
to meet him, the shame and fear of the one with the love 
and joy of the other. And though still in rags, his father 
fell on his neck and kissed him, not only forgiving the wan- 
derer, but restoring to him fully the possession and enjoy- 
ment of his forfeited filial rights. Such welcome awaits 
every returning prodigal. How return? In King's College, 
Cambridge, was once a young man anxious about his soul. 
He read and pondered Lev. xvi. 20-22. The gospel inter- 
preted the passage. His heart was touched ; he said, " If 
the Lamb of God has borne and carried away my sins, I will 
not bear them another hour." This was Charles Simeon. 
Like him yield to the drawings of the Saviour's love. 




Spread for thee the festal board, 
See, with richest bounty stored ; 
To thy Father's bosom pressed, 
Thou shalt be a child confessed, 
Never from his house to roam; 
Come and welcome, sinner, come ! 

THOMAS Haweis. 



June 22. 



2Hje fotriuti sfjall be turned into fjelL — p SALM IX. 17. 

Then shall he say also unto the7?i on the left hand, Depart from 
771 e, ye cursed, i7ito everlasti7ig fre, prepared for the devil a7id his 
angels. — Matt. xxv. 41. 

TWO characters only are to be found among all the 
millions of this earth. In the hour of judgment two 
characters only will appear before the Judge. Throughout 
eternity but two characters will remain. There are two and 
only two characters delineated in the Word of God. These 
characters are distinct, antagonistic, eternally separated, — 
the righteous and the unrighteous. The smile of God is 
upon them that do well, his frown upon them that do evil. 
The present state of the godly is happiness and prosperity ; 
the ungodly are not so. The reward of the righteous is eter- 
nal union with God, the end of the wicked banishment from 
his presence. Heaven is a being with God, hell a being 
without him. 

Our Lord depicts the final separation of the righteous and 
the unrighteous. To those on his left hand the King ex- 
claims, "Depart!" Unwilling to come to him that they 
might have life, they are now to be deprived of the joy and 
glory of his face. Union with him is no longer possible, 
and separation brings torment. This punishment is not 
prepared for human souls; but sharing with the Devil and 
his angels here, they are sharers with them also hereafter, 
cursed because they refused to be blessed, lost because unwil- 
ling to be saved. Which will you be ? What character are 
you making for yourself now? 




O just Judge, to whom belongs 
Vengeance for all earthly wrongs, 



Grant forgiveness, Lord, at last, 
Ere the dread account be past ! 



Dean STANLEY ( Translation). 



June 23. 



Ef foe suffer, foe sfjall also reign faritfj ijtm. 

2 Tim. ii. 12. 

Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or 
parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God^s 
sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and 
i?i the world to come life everlasting, — Luke xviii. 29, 30. 

THE light and power of this text is in the phrase, " For 
the kingdom of God's sake." Fearful calamities have 
befallen the Church from errors concerning the principle of 
true evangelical sacrifice and service. Christ is not making 
a bargain nor appealing to our self-interest, but stating a fact 
verified in the experience of millions who have joyfully sung, 
' ; For thy sake we are killed all the day long." The mother 
who rushes through the flames to save her child, the soldier 
who counts not his possessions or life dear that he may serve 
his king, do not speak or think of sacrifice. Jesus Christ 
gains men by his attractive power. When the kingdom of 
God and the beauties of its King are revealed to the soul, it 
enters at once upon its glorious inheritance of everlasting 
life, and asks no other reward. We have long possessed a 
picture of a saint of the Middle Ages kneeling at the feet of 
Christ. The Lord is saying to him, " Thou hast done much 
for me, what shall I give thee?" And Saint Thomas Aqui- 
nas is answering, " Lord, nothing but thyself." 




Jesus, I my cross have taken 

All to leave, and follow thee ; 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 

Thou from hence my all shalt be ! 
Perish every fond ambition, 

All I 've sought, or hoped, or known; 
Yet how rich is my condition, 

God and heaven are still my own ! lyte. 



June 24. 



$ftm fjatlj @oli exalteti ♦ ♦ . to gibe repentance ♦ ♦ ♦ and 
togt&enegg. — acts v. 31. 

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. — Luke xiii. 3. 

TWICE does this declaration come from the lips of 
Jesus Christ in one brief discourse. He speaks with 
the authority of a king and a judge. It is at our peril if 
we disregard or remain inattentive to what he says. And 
this sure word comes to all — to me ! No judgments falling 
upon others can justify me in believing that I am without 
guilt. Perchance my brother's guilt may be greater than 
mine, but still repentance is not more indispensable to him 
than to me. Failing to give it, there lies before the sinner 
that doom expressed in the word "perish," — a doom so great, 
so unspeakably awful to a human soul, that no language can 
adequately describe it. 

Repentance is the escape of the soul from the dominion 
of sin ; it is enlightenment of the mind, so that the sinner 
sees the danger and folly of his course. It is the renewal 
of the heart, so that it separates itself from the sin that was 
destroying it. It is the beginning of a new and glorious life. 
Should it then be a hard thing to repent ? True, repentance 
has its tears, but they are indeed blessed tears. It has its 
lamentations, but they soon turn to joy and praise. It has 
its humiliations, but it leads to a glorious exaltation. 




With broken heart and contrite sigh, 
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry : 
Thv pardoning grace is rich and free, 
O God, be merciful to me ! 



CORNELIUS ELVEN. 



June 25. 



©oil, tofjo qutrftfnrtf) tfje fceafc.— Romans iv. 17. 

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even 
so the Son quickeneth whom he will. — John v. 21. 

LIFE is the prerogative and gift of God, alike of Father 
and Son. So declare these words of Saint John ; and 
all life is essentially one. But to the conscious recipient is 
there not a difference in the gift suggested by these same 
words corresponding to the person of the giver ? Surely to 
such a recipient a gift carries with it the personality, the 
touch, of the hand from which it comes. And it is this per- 
sonality which gives it most often its highest value and in- 
fluence. ,; The gift without the giver is bare/' But what is 
true of our smaller earthly tokens is vastly truer of the 
high gifts of heaven, and this highest gift of 'all. Grateful, 
happy, is it to the devout soul, to recognize in every heart- 
throb, every function, physical or spiritual, the Father's fore- 
thought and provision for his children. But an element of 
even deeper tenderness and love, as well as responsibility, is 
added to the gift, as coming from the wounded human hand 
of Jesus. It glows and breathes with the very spirit of his 
life and redeeming work. 

And this is the gift, this life, which he gives to every 
earnest seeking heart; for "whom he will," is after all only 
another expression, according to the gospel, for " whoso- 
ever will." 

Thou art the life ; the rending tomb 

Proclaims thy conquering arm ; 
And those who' put their trust in thee 

Nor death nor hell shall harm. 

Bishop doanb. 



June 26. 



85Ke fjabe redemption tfjroujjfj ?}ts blooti. — Eph. i. 7. 

Take, eat : this is my body. . . . Drink ye all of it ; for this is my 
blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission 
of sins. — Matt. xxvi. 26-2S. 

T)RECIOUS words of Jesus ! Our Lord here institutes 



JT the sacrament or feast which should ever commem- 
orate his love and delivering mercy to his believing people. 

Take, eat." etc. This feast is " meat indeed, and drink 
indeed" to those who have faith to discern the Lord's body 
and blood, and love to feed upon his grace. <; Do this in 
remembrance of me " is his tender loving command to his 
Church and people of all ages, "till he come." Can we 
refuse to obey, and not "deny him before men '*? 

This supper is not a sacrifice, it is a feast commemorating 
a sacrifice; we should observe it with thankful hearts. It 
tells us. in mute eloquence, of the victory he achieved, and 
of the life and liberty he purchased for us. It breathes the 
love of Christ ; it is fragrant with the mercy of our God. 
who is now ready to welcome the weakest believer who 
comes trusting and resting the soul upon the righteousness 
of Jesus only. In this feast of love, there is food for hun- 
gry souls, refreshment for weary spirits, and heavenly com- 
fort for those that mourn. It brings the believer into closer 
union with Christ, it strengthens faith, brightens hope, and 
cheers the Christian along the way. 



Bread of the world, in mercy broken, 

Wine of the soul, in mercy shed, 
By whom the words of life were spoken, 

And in whose death our sins are dead, 
Look on the hearts by sorrow broken ; 

Look on the tears by sinners shed ; 
And be this feast to us the token 

That by thy love our souls are fed. heber. 





June 27. 



OEfjat tljmgs ixjcre gain to me, tfjose £ counted loss for 

Christ. — Phil. iii. 7. 

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and 
lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? 
— Matt. xvi. 26. 



THERE can be no true discipleship without sacrifice. 
To follow the Master is " to take up his cross." It 
may require the surrender of friends, of chosen pursuits, of 
opportunities for securing wealth, and in obeying the calls of 
his spirit and providence, even of life itself. It is for Christ 
against the world that the sincere, well-considered, loving 
choice is to be made. But what if it should not be made ? 
What compensation does the world offer, even at its best 
estate ? How uncertain and short-lived earthly friendships ! 
How disappointing the gratifications of taste and worldly 
honors ! How evanescent, how unsatisfying, how limited at 
best the period of its enjoyment ! And all this to be bal- 
anced by the irremediable loss of the soul ! 

But what if the better alternative is elected ? There may, 
indeed, be heavy sacrifices required, and human tears. 
But in all this we follow and enjoy the presence of our divine 
Leader.. We are supported by his promised aid. We are 
filled with joy amid our sufferings, " we glory in tribulations 
also." and in the end receive the crown of an immortal life. 

Jesus, thy boundless love to me 

No thought can reach, no tongue declare ; 

Oh, knit my thankful heart to thee, 
And reign without a rival there. 

Thine wholly, thine alone, I am ; 

Be thou alone my constant flame. 

J. WESLEY (Translation). 



June 28. 



3Let patience fja&e Ijer perfect food*. — James i. 4. 

In your patioice possess ye your souls. — ■ Luke xxi. 19. 

A glance at our Revised Version, " In your patience ye 
shall win your souls," shows us that this text is a 
promise, not a command, a blessed hope, not a stern ordi- 
nance. What is the spirit of this promise? "Souls" is 
rendered in the margin "lives ; " and the thought of winning 
one's life is of accomplishing the highest end of life, and of 
realizing its highest possibility of power and of peace. Re- 
garded in this light, how sweet is the promise for those who 
are compelled to live in this impetuous, harassing generation ! 
By patience we shall win our lives ! Impatience in our work ; 
the chafing of the spirit against providential restrictions ; 
the wild haste to be rich ; the intolerant and consuming am- 
bition, which to satisfy itself will crush a path over the 
rights of others, — these are characteristic types of world-life 
to be seen around us every day. But the servant of the 
Lord must not. will not abandon himself to this impatient, 
selfish strife. He will maintain the bright example of the 
patient Jesus. He will discern by the light of the Holy 
Spirit's teaching that the highest end of our life on earth 
cannot be won by the selfish and by the impatient ; he will 
receive the strength to remember that impatience is waste 
and loss, the strength to live in the hourly atmosphere of 
that blessed prayer for every busy and every earnest life. 




Calm me, my God, and keep me calm ; 

Let thine outstretched wing 
Be like the shade of Elirn's palm 

Beside her desert spring. 

H. BONAR. 



June 29. 



2Tafo fjeeti therefore unto gourgelbeg. — Acts xx. 28. 

The men of Nineveh shall rise i?i judgment with this generation, 
and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of 
Jonas ; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. — Matt. xii. 41. 

THESE words of the Master teach that light measures 
responsibility, that obligation is commensurate with 
opportunity. 

We of this generation may find a solemn joy in the fact 
that our opportunities and our obligations are unequalled. 
Not only is this the formative and decisive period in that 
portion of our country which is to determine the national 
destiny, but there is the quickening of a new intellectual 
life among the churchless multitude, which needs the mould- 
ing hand of the Church. Moreover, the door of opportu- 
nity, "great and effectual," is as wide as the world, for this 
is the first generation in man's history that has seen the 
whole world open to the gospel. The highways of com- 
merce have been opened; channels of benefaction have been 
established; wealth has been amassed; and an intellectual 
revolution which seems to follow the touch of the nine- 
teenth century is shattering traditional beliefs and preparing 
heathen nations, like the Ninevites, to receive the preachers 
of righteousness. We can now stretch out our hands in 
benediction over Asia and Africa. 

The men of Christ's generation sinned above others in 
refusing to accept light. We of this generation shall sin 
above others if we refuse to give it. 




Be this my one great business here, 
With serious industry and fear, 

Eternal bliss to insure ; 
Thine utmost counsel to fulfil, 
And suffer all thy righteous will, 

And to the end endure. c. Wesley. 



June 30. 



Wit ija&c peace fattf) ©ofc. — Romans v. i. 
Peace be unto you. — John xx. 19. 

THE natal song of Christ sung by prophetic angels was 
peace " and " glory," — "glory in the highest, and on 
earth peace." Yet when Jesus began his ministry, he said, 
" I came not to send peace, but a sword." Are these state- 
ments and others like them contradictions? No! sweet 
paradoxes. By nature, man is at peace with the world 
and at war with God. Christ came to reverse this, and by 
his atonement to establish a peace between God and man 
which involves war with the world. The Christian, then, 
is called to fight his way to eternal peace. But has he no 
peace until the end? Yes, blessed peace: war without, and 
peace within, — " the peace of God that passeth all under- 
standing." His turbulent passions are stilled: his soul's 
great anxieties are laid to rest: his sin is forgiven: he is 
cleansed in the blood of the Lamb : he has promises of final 
salvation. ,; a place" in the "house of many mansions," 
and " a crown of glory that fadeth not away." With a con- 
sciousness of all these in the Christian's soul, time, death, 
and eternity cannot mar his imperturbable repose. 



Grant us thy peace throughout our earthly life, 
- Our balm in sorrow, and our stay in strife ; 
Then, when thy voice shall bid our conflict cease, 
Call us, O Lord, to thine eternal peace. 

JOHN ELLERTON. 



July i. 



Spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to (Soto tig 3esus CfjrisL 

i Peter ii. 5. 

But the hentr cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall 
worship the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such 
to worship him. God is a Spirit : and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth. — John iv. 23, 24. 

ALAS, how sad that the Hebrews had forgotten the God 
of Israel as he revealed himself to their fathers, and 
had fallen into formalism ! But our Lord had come to bring 
in a better state of things and to prepare a people over all the 
earth, diverse from one another in many things, but one in 
this, that they aim at worship which is true to the truth of 
things, and which is spiritual. We live in the time contem- 
plated. Let us be profoundly thankful for what we witness, 
still more for what we have been taught of the Holy Ghost 
to join in rendering to the Father. 

For the Father, combining love which looks to the good of 
his creatures with law which comes from his own nature, 
seeks spiritual worshippers. Let us be fellow-workers with 
him and try to teach men his nature that, forsaking idols and 
errors, they may worship him in spirit and in truth. 

The nature of God determines the kind of worship. He is 
holy. He calls for holiness in them that come nigh him. 
He is omniscient. He sees and hates evil in the heart no 
less than in the life. He requires heart purity in his wor- 
shippers. He is not like the gods of the heathen, and he will 
not accept what blinded men carry to them. He has made 
known his nature and his attributes to men with clearness 
enough to show them what they ought to be and to offer.' 




The holy Church throughout the world, 

O Lord, confesses thee, 
That thou the eternal Father are, 

Of boundless majesty. 



TATE ( Translation ). 



July 2. 



8Hjat ffiljrtet mag fctoell m gcur fjearts 6g 

Eph. iii. 17. 

K?/ a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see me : 
because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I 
am in my Father and ye in me, and I in you. — John xiv. 19, 20. 

THE above words were uttered by the Saviour on the eve 
of his crucifixion, at a time when the most painful 
scenes of his life were crowding one upon another and sorely 
pressing him on all sides. They were given to comfort the 
hearts of his disciples, who were overwhelmed with grief. 
Thus soon their Lord and Master was to be taken from their 
midst. And as we read and re-read this valedictory, we ex- 
claim, How beautiful ! how fitting to the occasion ! how com- 
forting ! Surely the disciples, though stricken with grief, 
must have felt, to some degree at least, their hearts burn 
within them at the announcement of these exceeding great 
and precious promises. 

"Yet a little while," says the Saviour. He had but a few 
hours to live. Judas at that very hour, perhaps moment, was 
consummating his treason. And before the morrow's sun ap- 
peared over the hills of Judea the Saviour was in the hands 
of his betrayers and murderers. " And the world seeth me 
no more." No, not till the morning of the resurrection, when 
every eye shall see him, but not as a man of sorrows and 
acquainted with grief, but as a conqueror amid the splendors 
and soldiery of heaven. " But ye see me." Between the time 
of his resurrection and ascension, for the space of forty days 
he appeared to his apostles, and on one occasion was seen of 
above five hundred brethren at once. Yes, and his followers 
ever see him by the eye of faith, and at last will see him as 
he is. 




Prince of light, to thee I cry ! 
By thy glorious majesty, 
Lord, thy presence let me see ; 
Manifest thyself to me ! 



Richard Mant. 



July 3. 



£0 sljall toe zbtt bt inftfj tfje SLorti* — 1 Thess. iv. 17. 

In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go 
and prepare a place for you, I will co?ne again, and receive yoit unto 
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go 
ye know, and the way ye know. — John xiv. 2-4. 

HOW clear and satisfying a view of the life to come is 
presented in these words of our Saviour's! So posi- 
tive an affirmation of its reality from the lips of one who came 
forth from God puts to silence the denials of unbelief. All 
speculations respecting the future state are valueless to those 
who have looked upon this picture of home life beyond the 
grave. How cheering in view of earthly conflicts, and what 
a stimulus to untiring activity in Christian work ! 

Into this land of many mansions, or abiding places, the 
Lord has gone as the head and representative of ransomed 
humanity. Our hope, as an anchor of the soul, is sure and 
steadfast, entering into that which is within the veil, whither 
the forerunner has for us entered, even Jesus. There he 
reigns for the overthrow of sin ; and when he has accom- 
plished his purpose of mercy in the hearts and through the 
agency of his faithful followers, he receives them to himself 
that they may share his glory. 

Nor need any one go astray. Christ is the way. Trustful 
reliance upon him and his finished work will secure all the 
blessings that are wrapped up in the terms, Home and 
Father. 



Well, the delightful day will come, 
When my dear Lord will bring me home, 

And I shall see his face. 
Then with my Saviour, brother, friend, 
A blest eternity I '11 spend, 

Triumphant in his grace. 

Samuel Medley. 



July 4. 



31 berg present Jjelp m trouble. — psalm xivi. 1. 

°f g°°d cheer ; it is I ; be not afraid. — Matt. xiv. 27. 

JESUS constrained his disciples to get into a ship and 
go to the other side " away from influences which 
tended only to the carnal and temporal; and "he himself 
went up into a mountain apart to pray." If we would escape 
temptation, we must flee from it and draw nigh unto God. And 
sometimes it may seem that in escaping temptation we fall 
into dire calamities. The winds may be contrary, the waves 
may be rough and boisterous, the night may come on dark 
and starless, and yet it were better to be overwhelmed in 
such a sea than to be engulfed in sin and error. But Jesus 
does not forget his disciples. High on the mountain-top 
he prays, and in the hour of need comes with almighty help 
to convert our calamities into blessings. 

We are sailing to the other shore. Sometimes the sea is 
wild and raging: sometimes the heart is troubled like the 
sea, but Jesus comes walking on the angry waters, and over 
the roar of the tempest, within and without, we hear his 
voice, " Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid; ? ' and that 
voice brings a calm to the sea and the soul. And when he 
bids us come to his side, we can look to Jesus, and walk, 
like Peter, on the angry flood. But if we look away from 
Jesus to the threatening tide and storm, our faith will 
weaken, our courage will fail, our feet will sink. But happy 
for us even then if there yet remaineth faith to cry, " Lord, 
save, or I perish ; " for in that hour Jesus will stretch forth 
his hand to save, and to bring the peace which the soul 
needs. 




Ridge of the mountain-wave, lower thy crest ! 
Wail of the tempest-wind, be thou at rest ! 
Sorrow can never be, darkness must fly, 
Where saith the Light of light, " Peace ! it is I ! " 

J. NEALE (translation). 



July 5. 



2Cf)2 toorlis tnere ftmntJ, anti J tuti eat tfjem.— jer. xv. 16. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the 
miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. — John 
vi. 26. 

THE miracles should have convinced the Galileans that 
Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour of the world. This 
was their design. After he had seen a few of them, Nico- 
demus of Jerusalem made a distinct confession. But these 
Galileans were gross and sensual in their desires. Food 
without work was an attraction. Curiosity was aroused. 
The material advantages of our Lord's ministry were wel- 
come. Like the Roman soldiers who crucified him and 
then divided his garments, they were glad to accept all that 
he would give, while they were unwilling to accept him. 
Thus they announced their own condemnation. In refusing 
salvation they ultimately lost every blessing. 

Their mistake is constantly repeated. Men " eat of the 
loaves " and still reject the Saviour. Freedom, civilization, 
home, the Sabbath, — these are all the miracles of our Lord. 
No one would wish to live away from them. Life is not 
worth much if it is not within sound of the church bell. But 
these things cannot save ; they are evidences of a Saviour's 
presence. They are not the Saviour; he, and he alone, can 
save, and the silent appeal of these precious blessings is 
an urgent entreaty to accept his salvation. Have you found 
the Saviour, or are you satisfied to " eat of the loaves " ? 




Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, 
As thou didst break the loaves beside the sea. 
Beyond the sacred page I seek thee, Lord, 
My spirit pants for thee, O living Word ! 

Mary a. Lathbury. 



July 6. 



En n0tfjmrj terrtfieti ug pour ati&crsarteg. — Phil, i 28. 

But there shall not a hair of your head perish. — Luke xxi. 18. 

IN terms proverbial and figurative Jesus here signifies the 
immunity of his servants: adversity cannot hinder what 
he promises them. The family ties of a believer may be 
rent, but not the union of his soul with his Saviour, once it 
has in good faith been established. Xo slander of adver- 
saries can diminish our inheritance with the saints in glory. 
Tribulations endured on earth shall only enhance " the rest 
that remaineth," and add zest to the more active joys of each 
guest arriving with angels to welcome him at the celestial 
home. The very defeats suffered by the sen-ants of the 
Lord shall set forward and build up the kingdom they labor 
for. Stephen in his death was defeated, bur the end of the 
victory he then achieved, in bringing converts to Christ, is 
not seen yet. His body was bruised: his head was fractured, 
and yet not a hair of it perished. Sustained, honored, saved 
he was. Heaven he saw opened, and Jesus standing there 
by the throne, who received his spirit. 

Our Lord has not promised exemption from all violence 
of evil men, on the contrary has bidden us look for it: but 
he promises his blessed presence and a safety higher and 
more enduring. They that suffer with him shall succeed. 
His tried ones shall triumph. His slain shall survive. 
Followers of the Lamb shall reign forever with him. 




How are thy servants blest, O Lord ! 

How sure is their defence ! 
Eternal wisdom is their guide. 

Their help, omnipotence. 



Joseph Addison. 



July 7. 



Sfje 3Urti fjatf) Iatti on fjtm tfje mtquttg of us all, 

Isaiah liii. 6. 

^4// jj/<? jvfctf// offended because of me this night : for it is written, 
I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered 
abroad. — Matt. xxvi. 31. 

THESE touching words of our most holy Lord must 
have made a deep impression on his disciples ; and so 
they should on us. The occasion and the surroundings were 
sad'; and in the tones of his voice and in his words there 
was sadness. They reveal the loneliness of Christ, on the 
one hand, and on the other, the weakness of even his own 
chosen and best disciples. When troubles come, friends 
forsake us. Many people will shrink from standing by their 
friends or the Church when in trouble, even if good is to 
come out of the troubles. The good appear to disadvantage 
and are at a discount in this world, and people last of all 
help a good man because he is good, or suffers for the 
good. 

All the disciples were " offended " because of Christ that 
night, and all forsook him, and were like sheep without a 
shepherd. Oh, that we may never from fear or shame allow 
our Master's cause to suffer, or forsake it when dangers sur- 
round it or threaten it ! Although all were ii offended " and 
forsook Christ, he still fulfilled his high and holy mission, 
and so let each one of us, even if all alone and forsaken, 
live, labor, and suffer for God, his cause, and his children. 



lrU>Us 



Ashamed of Jesus ! — empty pride ; 
I 'll boast a Saviour crucified, 
And, oh. may this my portion be, 
My Saviour not ashamed of me ! 

Joseph Grigg. 



July 8. 



Rentier ♦ . . to all tfjett tinm — Romans xiii. 7. 

Render therefore unto Ccesar the things which are Ccesar\ •; and 
unto God the things that are God^s. — Matt. xxii. 21. 

THIS answer of our Lord evokes our admiration of his 
wisdom in dealing with his hypocritical adversaries. 
But now that eighteen centuries have passed, it remains one 
of the most convincing proofs of his wonderful wisdom as a 
teacher of men. Sadly enough it happens that those bear- 
ing his name have not profited by this plain discrimination. 
A large proportion of the public troubles in Christendom 
may be traced to our practical ignoring of the distinction 
between duties to God and duties to the government. The 
first Christian emperors sought to subordinate the Church 
to the State, and this error still prevails. The Papacy seeks 
to subordinate the State to the Church, while Puritanism 
sought to make Church and State identical. All these efforts 
have failed. In our country the correct principle prevails. 
But how many Protestants err in one or the other of the 
ways just indicated ! In a free country more than in any 
other safety depends on following closely this principle laid 
down by our Master. 

May we thy bounties thus 

As stewards true receive, 
And gladly, as thou blessest us. 

To thee our first fruits give ! 

W. W. HOW. 



July 9. 



Clotfjeti fattfj fojjttc robes, anli palms m tljetr jjanti*, 

ReVc vii. 9. 

Zfe that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; 
and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life y but I will con- 
fess his name before my Father ; and before his angels. — Rev. iii. 5. 

WHAT earnestness there must be in the life of a Chris- 
tian if we either look upon how much he has to over- 
come, or how much he is in danger of losing ! We, as Chris- 
tians, have before us difficulties and temptations, enemies 
within and without, especially that dreadful and deadly dis- 
ease, self-confidence, when we are pleased with what we are 
and therefore do not press on toward the goal unto the prize 
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But no matter 
what is in our way it ought not to discourage, still less de- 
ject us, as if it would be almost hopeless to think of over- 
coming. The last words in our text not only show us the 
glorious things we may lose, but they at the same time hold 
up before our eyes what we will gain by continuing the fight 
till the last enemy is overcome ; yea, they are properly prom- 
ises that ought to give us courage and strength to hold out 
to the end. Then what a victory, — white raiment, having our 
names in the book of life as members of the heavenly com- 
monwealth, and confessed by our Saviour as being his before 
God and the world ! 




Ten thousand times ten thousand, 

In sparkling raiment bright, 
The armies of the ransomed saints 

Throng up the steeps of light. 

'T is finished, all is finished, 

Their fight with death and sin ! 
Fling open wide the golden gates 

And let the victors in ! 

Dean Alford. 



July io. 



%i gtfjall come to bz glortfietr m fjfe gamtsi. — 2 Thess. i. 10. 

have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto 
you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the 
Father : for my Father is greater than I. — John xiv. 28. 

NO wonder the disciples were grieved at the thought of 
losing the familiar presence of their Lord. But 
whither was he going ? To the Father. And would he re- 
turn ? Assuredly, and soon. In this twofold fact, therefore, 
they were to rejoice, if their love for the Master was intelli- 
gent and true: (1) They would be glad of his ascension to 
the place of his glory both for his sake and their own, — for 
his, because the humiliation he was enduring was thus about 
to be replaced by a corresponding exaltation ; for their own, 
because in this same exaltation the assurance was to be found 
that the great salvation was at last achieved. (2) The final 
step is thus about to be taken for his speedy return in the per- 
son of another and better Comforter than himself, — that of 
the Holy Spirit. In all this Christ exults in the superiority 
of his Father who is now recalling him, — superiority in view 
of that stupendous method of grace which originated with the 
Father, and who, having sent his Son to mediate it in his 
name and as his willing servant, promised to reward so 
signal a service by peopling heaven with those multitudes 
of the redeemed who shall forever make that abode of bliss 
resound with the rapturous acclaim: "Salvation unto our 
God which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb." 

Hark, those bursts of acclamation ! 

Hark, those loud triumphant chords ! 
Jesus takes the highest station ; 

Oh, what joy the sight affords ! 
Crown him, crown him, 

" King of kings and Lord of lords." 



July ii. 



3Lort, IS tt E ? — Matt. xxvi. 22. 

Verily, verily \ / say unto you, that 07ie of you shall betray me. — 
John xiii. 21. 

F*ROM the foreknowledge here displayed it results that so 
shocking an event as the betrayal of Christ by a dis- 
ciple, which some might allege as grounding at least a sus- 
picion against Christianity, is rescued from even a seeming- 
support of such an objection, and becomes itself a " true yoke- 
fellow " in the grand array of Christian evidences (v. 19). 
Judas revolted from the Master ; but the Master had foretold 
it. The shock was broken, his Messiahship was confirmed. 

2. Judas heard the prediction, and therein his own charac- 
terization at the lips of the Son of God, and also those con- 
current words, " It had been good for that man if he had not 
been born." Thus a rehearsal of the judgment day, an 
earnest of future punishment. 

3. The betrayer, said Jesus, shall be one of you. This em- 
phatic word brings home the question, Am I treacherous to 
him ? Is there no Judas- way in me ? 

4. Jesus was "troubled in spirit." What compassion 
toward the traitor, although justice must take its course ! 
How great an evil to his eye is sin ! And that trouble of his 
spirit was but as the twilight to the then fast-coming dark- 
ness of Gethsemane and Calvary. Amazing love to sinners ! 

Blest Jesus, come and rule my heart, 

And make me wholly thine,' 
That I may never more depart, 

Nor grieve thy love divine. 

Benjamin Cleveland. 



July 12. 



jJFeetl tfje flotfe nf (@0t(. — 1 Peter v. 2. 



Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made 
7'uler over his household, to give them meat i7i due season? Blessed is 
that servant, whom his Lord when he comeih shall find so doing. 
Verily L say unto you. That he shall make him ruler over all his 
goods. — Matt. xxiv. 45-47. 

A FAITHFUL and wise servant, or steward, as Luke 
calls him, watches — that is, cares for — the interests of 
his Lord. This is one of those striking parabolic pictures for 
which our Lord's teachings are distinguished. It is here in 
the form of a question which each of us must put to his own 
soul : " Am I this faithful and wise servant or steward ? " 
The main characteristics of such a servant are that he should 
be faithful and wise. Paul writes, " It is required of a stew- 
ard that a man be found faithful." The proof of his faith- 
fulness is his watchfulness. The punishment of a sentinel 
who sleeps on his post has in all ages been death. An un- 
watchful steward who allows his master's goods to be stolen 
has his portion with the hypocrites ; but let us be watchful, 
faithful, and wise, and we shall hear the Lord saying, " Blessed 
is that servant." 

Especially are our Lord's words addressed to ministers, 
who are " stewards of the mysteries of God," which demands 
fidelity to Christ as servants, fidelity to the people as dis- 
pensers of his Word. To be thus faithful we must be full of 
faith. And then as to the blessedness, the reward of faithful 
stewardship, we can only say in the words of the beloved 
John, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know 
that when he shall appear we shall be like him : for we shall 
see him as he is." 




*T is not a cause of small import 
The pastor's care demands, 

But what might fill an angel's heart, 
And filled a Saviour's hands. 



PHILIP DODDRIDGE, 



July 13. 



STfjg testimonies also are mg ieU'gfjt, — psalm cxix. 24. 

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. — Matt. iv. 4. 

JESUS meets temptation as a man. Had he used divine 
power to destroy the Tempter, his victory could neither 
guide our conduct nor inspire our hope. He fought as we 
may fight ; he won as we may win. He never performed 
miracles for his own comfort. "It is written," — by this 
weapon he conquered Satan in each conflict. " The sword 
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," was his weapon. 
On each occasion he cites words from Deuteronomy. He 
found in this book, against which the critics are hurling their 
poisoned arrows, an armory of defence. In opposing this 
book rationalism tilts with divinity. Moses taught the people 
that God in giving manna was able to feed them with some- 
thing other than bread ; so Jesus teaches us faith in God's 
power to help us by whatever he appoints. Jesus was a 
profound thinker; he went to the heart of truth. The man 
who tries to live on bread alone, dies. A soul cannot eat 
wheat ; earthly food feeds earthly life. But man is made to 
be a son of God ; he is a child of eternity, a possible heir 
of heaven. His spiritual nature, as truly as his physical, 
must have its appropriate food. The heart is made for 
God ; it cries out for him. A living soul needs a living God. 
A " thing " may be satisfied with things ; a true man needs 
and must have as his portion the true and living God. This 
great truth is man's highest glory. Happy they who turn 
from that which is not bread to eat of the true and " living 
bread which came down out of heaven." 

Oh, grant us grace, almighty Lord, 
To read and mark thy holy Word, 
Its truth with meekness to receive, 
And by its holy precepts live ! 

BENJAMIN BEDDOME. 



July 14. 



©oti Ijatf} gtbm to us eternal life. — 1 John v. n. 

This is the bread which co?neth down from heaven, that a man 
may eat thereof, and not die. — John vi. 50. 

W 7 HAT was the lesson of the manna to the Israelites? 
VV Moses explained it thus: " That he might make 
thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by 
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 

To the saints of the Old Testament the Word of God was 
the food of the soul. With how much greater ardor and 
gratitude should we receive this heavenly food ! The Word 
of God has now become incarnate, has dwelt among us in 
his ineffable purity and holiness, pitied us, loved us, taught 
us, healed us, suffered and died for us, risen again on our 
behalf, and promised to come in glory to receive us to 
himself, in the mean time offering himself to us in the 
depths of his love, and by the most simple rite, as the true 
bread from heaven, the food of our souls. 

Let us feed on Christ, feed on him daily and constantly. 
When we approach his table, let us not busy ourselves with 
curious questions about the nature of the mystery we cele- 
brate, but make it our one concern to receive into our hearts 
our crucified Saviour. So we shall know what it is to dwell 
in him, and have him dwelling in us, — to be made like Christ, 
having within us that new and endless life which comes from 
Christ and from God, and which bears in it the promise of 
a glorious resurrection at the last day. 




True Bread of life, in pitying mercy given, 
Long famished souls to strengthen and to feed, 

Christ Jesus, Son of God, true Bread of heaven, 
Thy flesh is meat, thy blood is drink indeed. 

H. BONAR. 



July 15. 



Heat fjaplg ge be fount! e&en to figljt against ©ofc. 
Acts v. 39. 

Forbid him not : for there is no man which shall do a miracle in 
my natne, that ca?i lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not 
against us is on our part. — Mark ix. 39, 40. 

W 7E are taught that working for and with Christ is the 



vv way to church union. 

Opposition to deceit and violence, to wrong acts or opin- 
ions, is opposition to evil spirits, and real alliance with " the 
Son of God," who "was manifested that he might destroy 
the works of the Devil." 

What work is so " mighty " as that which dispossesses 
the Devil of his captives and victims ? Can it be done except 
by the truth and authority inseparable from the " Name 
which is above every name ? " It may be done without the 
sanction for the moment of habitual association with pro- 
fessed followers of the Lord. Nevertheless, whenever with 
the weapons of truth one fights against the spirits of evil, he 
is already on the way to full fellowship with all the disciples. 
The work needs no authority beyond the power to do it 
received from the Master; but the doer needs for himself 
the support and comfort of those who are " like minded." 
The disciples are forbidden to hinder those who are resisting 
evils in Christ's name, since they will at length come into 
open unity with all the brethren. 





Work, for the night is coming, 
Work through the sunny noon ; 



Fill brightest hours with labor, 
Rest comes sure and soon. 



ANNIE L. WALKER. 



July 16. 



2Efje liberal soul sf)all fie tna&e fat — Prov. xi. 25. 

Give, and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, pressed down, 
and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your 
bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be 
measured to you again. — Luke vi. 38. 

GIVE not stintedly, but freely, liberally, cheerfully, not as 
if driven by a need, except the need of a heart, which 
must satisfy its own motions of love. It is therefore not 
simply a command from the Master by the authority of the 
Lord, but it is the challenge of one who is the believer's 
friend, and who by his wisdom knows how the exercise of 
this grace will enrich the giver with an abundance of all that 
is best. It is the voice of him whose love for his is ever 
actively desiring that his followers shall rejoice and be glad 
in the enjoyment of all that is enduring. 

These words of our Saviour bear to us the thought which 
the apostle refers to when he says, "It is more blessed to 
give than to receive." Now while it is true that God's good- 
ness is fullest in a spiritual sense, we do hurt to his truth and 
we fail to reach the intention of the words of Jesus in this 
text when we refer their application either to the world to 
come, or to the sphere of purely spiritual things. It is this 
life which is to be enriched by the free and loving emulation 
of the example of Jesus. It is here and now that the seed 
we sow with ungrudging spirit and an open hand shall bring 
us the promised return. Because " God loveth a cheerful 
giver," therefore it is that "he which soweth bountifully 
shall reap bountifully" (see 2 Cor. ix. 6-13). Thus, then, 
giving with loving heart and hand for Jesus' sake is the 
surest way of refreshing, beautifying, and enriching most 
abundantly our own life. Thus will his disciples be more 
like the Master both in spirit and deed. 

Who sparingly his seed bestows, 

He sparingly shall also reap ; 
But whoso plentifully sows, 

The plenteous sheaves his hand shall heap. 

Thomas Cotterill. 



July 17. 



fget brill £ trust m Jjttn. — Job xm. 15. 

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. — Matt. 
xi. 6. 

THE occasions of offence in the Christian life are many, 
and come from every side. John the Baptist was 
offended because he was imprisoned. The sisters Mary 
and Martha were offended when their brother, whom Jesus 
loved, languished and died. So it is still, and so it will be 
always. What Christ does we know not now. His conduct 
toward his dearest friends is often apparently very strange ; 
they know disappointment, disaster, and death. As with 
Jacob of old, all things seem to be against them. Never- 
theless it is Christ who gives sight to the blind and preaches 
the gospel to the poor. He it is who, though he was rich, 
for our sakes became poor. In the multitude of our thoughts 
within us these comforts should delight our souls. Come 
what may, the love of the cross can never fail ; Jesus Christ 
is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Blessed indeed is 
it, though nature faints and fails, to look beyond the clouds 
into his face and say, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust 
him," then heaven comes down our souls to greet, and we 
have songs in the night, in the assurance that the same hand 
that was pierced for us is leading us by the right way to the 
city of habitation. 




Far, far above thy thought 

His counsel shall appear, 
When fully he the work has wrought 

That caused thy needless fear. 

J. WESLEY (Translation). 



July 18. 



2Hjeg toere all fillet) fattfj tfje pfolg ©fjost. — acts ii. 4. 



IT is the peculiar excellence and glory of our religion that 
it is spiritual ; that the soul of man is quickened, enlight- 
ened, sanctified, and consoled by the indwelling presence of 
the spirit of the eternal God. To his disciples, in view of 
the great work to which he had called them, — the evan- 
gelization of the world, — Jesus said, " Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost." The gift of the Holy Spirit was not peculiar to the 
chosen ambassadors of the Christ. The same gift is ex- 
pressly promised " to them that obey him." The saints in 
Ephesus trusted in Jesus after they heard the word of truth, 
the gospel of their salvation, and after they believed they 
were sealed with the Holy Spirit which had been promised. 
Saint Paul exhorts his brethren to pray "always with all 
prayer and supplication in the Spirit;" and assures them 
that he prays to our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole 
family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant 
them according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened 
with might by his spirit in the inner man. This blessing 
is needed by Christians now; and it maybe possessed and 
enjoyed by faith, love, obedience, and prayer. Be assured 
that "our Father which art in heaven " will freely "give the 
Holy Spirit to them that ask him." 



O Holy Spirit, now descend on me 
As showers of rain upon the thirsty ground ! 

Cause me to flourish as a spreading tree ; 
May all thy precious fruits in me be found ! 

C. FORSYTH. 



Receive ye the Holy Ghost. — John xx. 22. 




0 



July 19. 



ge fjafo fcnoton tfje JFatfyer,— 1 John h. 13. 

(9 righteous Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have 
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent vie. And I 
have declared unto the7?i thy name, and will declare it: that the love 
wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them, — John 
xvii. 25, 26. 

SO ends the tender intercessory prayer of our Lord. First 
it was -the " Father,"' then the " holy Father," and now 
it is the " righteous Father " to whom the appeal is made, — 
righteous to condemn the faithless and to justify the believer, 
— ready to impute his righteousness to those who rely on the 
atonement of his Son, and to implant that righteousness in 
those who seek conformity to his image. 

But the unbelieving world knows not God as the fountain 
of forgiving love. This knowledge can be communicated 
only by one who knows the Father as the Son knows him. in 
the riches of his grace and glory. Christ comes bearing a 
royal commission, and what he is sent to do he will surely ac- 
complish. To all who receive him he will make immediate 
and continued revelations of what is implied in the Father's 
saving, sanctifying, glorifying name, — once a name which the 
trembling worshipper scarcely dared to pronounce, but now a 
name inspiring confidence, love, and joy ; once a name ex- 
pressive of eternal being only, but now of eternal love. God, 
therefore, may be known, not as " the power without us that 
works for righteousness," but as a personal Father, revealing 
himself to our consciousness and to our affection. 

Regard thine own eternal prayer, 

And send a peaceful answer down. 
To us thy Father's name declare ; 

Unite and perfect us in one. 

C WESLEY. 



July 20. 



Cfjrrr fe but onr . . . ilsrt) legos Sfjtigt — 1 Cor. viii 6. 

But be not ye called Rabbi : for one is your Master, even Christ; 
and all ye are brethren. — Matt, xxiii. 8. 

BOTH by precept and example our blessed Saviour teaches 
us the greatness and the glory of a meek and lowly 
spirit. — that superiority comes by subjection ; that mastership 
goes hand in hand with ministration : that the only true great- 
ness is the greatness of him that serves. He washed his dis- 
ciples* feet, and said. M I am among you as he that serveth.* : 
He declares of himself that he came u not to be ministered 
unto, but to minister.'* and says. Whosoever will be chief 
among you let him be your servant." How often he said, 
u He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that hum- 
bleth himself shall be exalted " ! The teaching of his entire 
ministry, and especially the teaching of his cross, is against 
the desire to be called u Rabbi."* 

One is our Master, even Christ. How deep a want of our 
being is answered here ! We must have a master : we were 
formed for reverencing and loving, for learning, following, 
and obeying. Such a master we have in Jesus Christ our 
Lord ; and upon him we may expend those feelings of bound- 
less admiration and passionate attachment and devotion 
which we may cherish for no earthly master. Let us sit at 
his feet and learn of him. Let us take our orders from him. 
Let us be loyal to him. 




O Master, let me walk with thee 
In lowly paths of service free. 
Tell me thy secret ; help me bear 
The strain "of toil, the fret of care. 

Washington Gladden. 



July 21. 



SfjctoelJ toirrarlD Jjfe name, tn tfjat gc fjafae nuntsterrtJ to 
tfje saints. — Heb. vi. 10. 

For ye have the poor always with you ; but me ye have not always. 
— Matt. xxvi. u. 

" r T^HE poor shall never cease out of the land." Opportu- 
X nities to relieve the needy will never be wanting ; 
but the opportunity to anoint Christ for his burial came but 
once in the history of the world. A few days later he was to 
be nailed to the cross. The Christ as we have him on that 
day in the house of Simon, under the shadow of Calvary, will 
never in this way come precisely over this same path of 
sorrow again. As he there is, he will not always be with 
them. This sort of anointing was possible only then. It was 
Mary's great opportunity, and with what an enthusiasm of 
self -forgetting zeal did she seize upon and improve it ! The 
poorest offerings of love, of grateful love, are well pleasing to 
our Saviour. With our bodies no less than with our spirits, 
with our mite no less than with our millions we can accept- 
ably glorify him. 

We belong to Christ. This is our only comfort, living and 
dying. Ourselves we must consecrate to him as a living 
sacrifice. But do not fail to break the alabaster box, else the 
sweet-scented spikenard will not anoint his body, nor its 
pleasant fragrance fill his house. 




In them thou mayst be clothed and fed. 

And visited and cheered, 
And in their accents of distress, 

Our Saviour's voice is heard. 



Philip Doddridge. 



July 22. 



©oft, tofjtrij altoags causetlj m to tttumpfj m Cfjrtet 

2 Cor. ii. 14. 

In the world ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have 
overcome the world. — John xvi. 33. 

WITH what frankness Christ tells that the vessel of the 
Church shall not move over smooth seas, with favor- 
ing breezes filling her sails till she reaches the desired haven. 
No, not thus, but on the contrary, wind and wave shall often 
threaten shipwreck and disaster, though all shall be well at 
last. Listen to these words of the Lord Jesus, you who, like 
Baruch (Jer. xlv. 3), are moaning, "Woe is me now, for the 
Lord hath added grief to my sorrow ! " Listen to the Lord's 
words you who, like David (1 Sam. xxvii. 1), are saying, " I 
shall one day perish by the hand of Saul ! " 

Perhaps your desponding heart replies, " This is tantalizing 
me, not helping. For he may well overcome, but that is not 
the same as my overcoming ! " Is it not? Think again, — 
think better of the Lord's most gracious words. Did he not 
say (John xiv. 19), " Because I live, ye shall live also " ? Every 
branch in the Vine is one with the Vine. Every believing 
sinner is a branch in the Vine. You were united to Christ the 
first moment you leaned on him. The Holy Spirit who led 
you to Christ did also unite you to him ; and that union stands 
fast, however great be your trials and tribulations. 

It was in your feeble nature (" The flesh is weak ! " — Matt, 
xxvi. 41) that he overcame tribulation, — tribulation ten thou- 
sand times more terrible than yours, — and he is following up 
his victory when from day to day the feeblest disciple, simply 
leaning on him, is shown to be mightier than all hell, and 
stronger than the world. He would lose his fame as con- 
queror if you, a member of his body, were to fail. 




Thou dost conduct thy people 
Through torrents of temptation ; 

Nor will we fear, while thou art near, 
The fire of tribulation. c. Wesley. 



July 23. 



£ totll bless tfjee . . . because tfjott fjast ofojjeti mg faatce* 

Gen. xxii. 17, 18. 
Stretch forth thine hand. — Matt. xii. 13. 

PICTURE to yourself the scene at the moment when this 
command broke forth from the lips of our Lord : there is 
the hand, feeling, motion all gone, its executive power utterly 
lost; there is Jesus, the divine healer, able to restore it whole 
as the other. We see these ; but is that all ? Nay, but be- 
tween these two figures — this divine Person and this withered 
hand — there is a channel through which the almighty energy 
of the one flows with life-giving, curative virtue into the dry 
and shrunken form of the other. What is that channel ? The 
man believed Jesus could heal him. Was it that? In part, 
but not all. When Jesus said, Stretch forth thine hand, the 
man's faith prompted him to instant obedience ; although he 
had tried to do this a thousand times before, and had not 
been able, yet such was his belief in Jesus that without a 
moment's hesitation he again makes the effort, and it was just 
in the act of making this effort that he felt the healing vigor 
given to him. What then is the lesson that this incident has 
for us ? Surely this, — that when Volition is wedded to Faith, 
Omnipotence will bless the banns. Here lies the secret of all 
strength. Apply it to whatever emergency or requirement^ 
and it will never fail. Are you enslaved to some habit which 
Christ bids you put off? Look to him and make an effort at 
freedom, and the bonds will be burst. Is a hard task imposed 
upon you, and do you feel inadequate to it ? Trust in him 
and make the effort, and you will find that what is impossible 
with man is possible with God. 

My highest hope to be where, Lord, thou art, 
To lose myself in thee my richest gain ; 

To do thy will the habit of my heart, 
To grieve the Spirit my severest pain. 

MONSELL. 



July 24. 



f^tg oSxm refoarti according to fjfe ofon labour* — 1 Cor. iii. 8. 

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with 
his angels ; and then he shall reivard every 7nan according to his 
works. — Matt. xvi. 27. 

THESE words of our Saviour immediately follow the 
announcement of his impending death in Jerusalem, 
and the call to all his disciples to a life of self-sacrifice for 
him. They present a powerful incentive to duty by showing 
us that the rewards of the future will more than compensate 
for all the trials of the present, however severe. 

As our blessed Lord, in view of his baptism of suffering, in 
the true spirit of trustful obedience nerved himself for the 
dread conflict by looking forward to the " joy that was set be- 
fore him," so he would stimulate our faith and courage by 
directing our thoughts to that great day of assize when those 
who have suffered with him shall also be glorified with him. 
When he comes in the glory of his Father with his angels, 
when the judgment is set and the race of man is judged by the 
" Son of man," who will not rejoice to have lived for Christ, 
like Christ, and if God has so ordered it, suffered for Christ ? 



Stand up ! stand up for Jesus ! 

The strife will not be long ; 
This day, the noise of battle, 

The next, the victor's song : 
To him that overcometh, 

A crown of life shall be ; 
He with the King of glory 

Shall reign eternally. 




S. DUFFIELD. 



July 25. 



%z knorrjctf) tfje toag tfjat I take. — Job xxiii. 10. 

/ know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : I would 
thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and 
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. — Rev. 
iii. 15, 16. 

HOW searching are the eyes of God, " discerning the 
thoughts and intents of the heart ; ' ! How naked our 
souls " to him with whom we have to do " ! His vision is 
both telescopic and microscopic, seeing us afar off and mag- 
nifying our actions in their true light. Where art thou ? he 
asks us as he did Adam. What doest thou here ? he asks 
as he did Elijah. We are to examine ourselves to see 
whether we are in the faith or not. In the light of eternity 
where do I stand? Am I a Laodicean, and lukewarm'? 
Once my faith was bright and warm : now but a few dying 
embers left. Have I just enough religion to lull my con- 
science into a false security? Lukewarm; he wants me to 
be either cold or hot (boiling, fervent) rather than lukewarm; 
yes, even cold (ice cold), rather than lukewarm. Does our 
text mean he would rather have me no Christian than a 
lukewarm professor? Xo, it does not question the state as 
much as the tendency of my heart. Lukewarmness, if I am 
going from cold to hot. is desirable ; but if I am passing 
from hot to cold, it is worse than coldness. What says the 
thermometer ; which way points the barometer of my heart ? 
Am I inclining to evil or to good, — growing in grace or in 
evil? Lord, help me to return to thee ! " The peaceful hours 
I once enjoyed," may they return with richer, fuller peace ! 
" Oh, for a closer walk with God ! " Take a coal from off 
thine altar, dearest Lord, and warm my heart with holy fire. 




Low at thy feet my soul would lie ; 

Here safety dwells, and peace divine. 
Still let me live beneath thine eye, 

For life, eternal life is thine. 



Anne Steele. 



July 26. 



(£f)tltjrm are a Ijmtage of tfje 3Lorti. — Psalm cxxvii. -j. 

Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my na??ie, receiveth 
me. — Mark ix. 37. 

'T'^HIS is not a charter for an orphan asylum, but an 



1 index to individual duty. Every home ought at some 
time to have a child, and every child a home. If God de- 
nies us the boon, there are forlorn hearts of other parentage, 
and wistful faces in plenty that appeal for a father's love and 
a mother's care. 

But whether the children come to us by birth or by adop- 
tion, we are to receive them in Jesus* name, — not merely for 
the love they bring us, still less for any help they may give, 
but for what we can do for them in the name of Christ. We 
are to make our embrace like the very arms of Jesus, and 
the putting forth of our hands a benediction on their lives: 
and great shall be our reward. Christ says to us as did 
Pharaoh's daughter to the mother of Moses, " Take this 
child and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy wages. " 
Our wages are himself. In entertaining strangers we may 
find an angel unawares. But in receiving and training a 
child for Christ, Jesus is sure to be our guest. He has joint 
interest with us in the work, and considers himself welcomed 
in the welcome which we give his helpless wards. 



Lord, we tremble, for we know 
How the fierce malicious foe, 
Wheeling round his watchful flight, 
Keeps them ever in his sight ; 
Spread thy pinions, King of kings, 
Hide them safe beneath thy wings, 
Lest the ravenous bird of prey 
Stoop, and bear the brood away ! 





COWPER. 



July 27. 



$ofo to appear in tfye presence of ©ofo for us. — heb. ix. 24. 

for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be 
sanctified through the truth. — John xvii. 19. 

T ESUS lived and died for the benefit of others ; he pleased 
J not himself, did nothing for himself. All was done to 
honor God and to save mankind. About to go unto the 
Father, he prays for his apostles. He had given them his 
Father's words, and would, when just ready to ascend to 
heaven, give them the gospel and his law of pardon for the 
whole world. Anxious to have them filled with the spirit 
of truth, and their entire energies devoted to the work of 
making the truth known to others, he prays the Father to 
set them apart, or " sanctify them through the truth," on the 
plea that it was for their sakes and to this end he had given 
up everything else and sanctified himself. 

In this prayer Jesus includes with the apostles all who 
believe 011 hi7n through their word, and all such can learn 
from it how he intercedes for them in heaven. While pray- 
ing to their Father to sanctify them through his Word, and 
striving to follow Jesus, this text will assure them of a union 
with him in action, in prayer, and in truth, — a union soon to 
be consummated in eternal glory. 



Lord, in all thy power and glory, 

Still thy thoughts and eyes are here, 
Watching o'er thy ransomed people, 

To thy gracious heart so dear. 
Thou for us art interceding, 

Everlasting is thy love, 
And a blessed rest preparing 

In our Father's house above. 

j. G. r Deck. 



July 28. 



jjor not tfje Jjearers of tfje lafo ate just before (Soto, 

but tlje tJOEtSu-- Romans ii. 13. 
7k&? heed thei'efore how ye hear. — Luke viii. 18. 

THE gift of hearing is properly one of the valued endow- 
ments of life. How intricate and delicate is the struc- 
ture of the ear, and how great the loss when by disease, 
accident, or advancing age our hearing is impaired or de- 
stroyed ! This faculty is frequently mentioned in Scripture, 
usually in connection with serious counsel or warning. 

The free use of any favor always implies the possibility of 
its abuse, and our Saviour evidently had an eye to this danger 
when he said, " Take heed therefore how ye hear ! " In the 
parable of the sower he has just said, " The seed is the Word 
of God." This may fall upon the fickle heart, like the thin 
soil on a ledge of barren rock, or upon the pathway of a 
worldly life, to be snatched away by greedy fowl of adventure, 
or where thorns of cares, riches, and pleasures of this life will 
surely choke its growth. 

The " therefore " is to be emphasized. There is -danger 
that our hearing of gospel truth will not be appreciative, re- 
ceptive, and of the assimilating kind, not as good ground 
bringing forth thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold (Matt. xiii. 
8). Therefore take heed how ye hear / 




My soul rejoices to pursue 
The steps of him I love, 

Till glory breaks upon my view 
In brighter worlds above. 



July 29. 



OSounirt m tfje fyawz of mg friend. — Zech. xiii. 6. 

Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall be- 
tray me. — Mark xiv- 18. 

WE are appalled at the sin of Judas. Yet, as when 
Jesus said this word the other disciples asked, " Lord, 
is it I ? " we may well consider whether we ourselves are not 
in danger of such sin. 

It is not, indeed, wise to exaggerate our faults as though 
every failure were a betrayal. Some who followed Jesus 
after awhile " went back, and walked no more with him," 
and some in his hour of trial -forsook him and fled,'' and 
Peter " denied " him ; but only Judas betrayed him. 

When one called a Christian lives in such open sin as to 
bring dishonor upon Christ, so that " the name of God is blas- 
phemed through " him, is it not betraying Christ ? Or if 
one misleads and perverts those younger, " offending the little 
ones which believe " in Jesus, of which sort of offenders our 
Lord said, " It were better for him that a millstone were 
hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea," is not 
this to betray Christ ? 

Seeing that such sins have not ceased, let us fear, and pray 
that no temptation without, or weakness within, may make us 
false to the Lord at whose table we have eaten. 



Oh, to grace how great a debtor 

Daily I 'm constrained to be ! 
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, 

Bind my wandering heart to thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 

Prone to leave the God I. love. 
Here 's my heart ; oh, take and seal it, 

Seal it for thv courts above. 

ROBERT ROBINSON, 



July 30. 



Sltrti mcrcg rejotcetij against judgment— James ii. 13. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stone st 
them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not I Behold, your house is left unto yoit 
desolate. — Matt, xxiii. 37, 38. 

JESUS uttered this intense cry of love, grief, and warning 
at sight of the doomed city. Jerusalem then represented 
the Church and chosen nation; and in her external glory she 
vied with the proudest cities of earth. But the Saviour be- 
wailed her moral and spiritual decline, for it had filled the 
measure of iniquity, and justice waited on mercy. The 
people formed rival sects, persecuted God's messengers of 
grace, and welcomed false prophets and false Christs. The 
rulers believed not in Jesus, and " gathered together against 
the Lord and against his Christ," purposing to kill him and 
seize his inheritance. In them the Saviour saw sin in its 
most damning features ; yet " straitened " to cleanse them by 
his blood, he makes this melting appeal. Surely, " waters 
cannot quench nor floods drown " the love of Jesus for per- 
ishing sinners. But if we refuse him, nothing can " hide us 
from the wrath of the Lamb.'' 

Our Lord Jesus has " all power in heaven and in earth," 
that he may save the lost. The Church is the recipient, 
depositary, and dispenser of his saving grace. Does she 
own her King? Is she united in the love of truth ? Do her 
ministry and members co-operate with him ? Let us beware 
of the blood of precious souls. Join not in the prevalent cry, 
" We will not have this man to reign over us." Be ready 
and eager to " bring forth the royal diadem and crown him 
Lord of all.'' Jerusalem's desolations still speak to each one. 




Our day of grace is sunk in night; thy noon is in its prime. 
Oh, turn and see thy Saviour's face in this accepted time ! 
So, Gentile, may Jerusalem a lesson prove to thee, 
And in the New Jerusalem thy home forever be. heber. 



July 31. 



prepare to meet tfjg (Soto* — Amos iv. 12. 

They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them ; 
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. — Matt. xxv. 

LAMPS, but no oil! There was preparation to meet the 
bridegroom, and confidence, but a vain confidence, in 
an insufficient preparation. When the bridegroom came, the 
foolish virgins were left behind and the door was shut. We 
who call ourselves Christians have made our preparation and 
are waiting for Christ to come. W T e all have lamps, which 
represent what is external in our Christianity, whether it be 
rites, or creed, or works of charity, or morality, or zeal for our 
church. But have we oil, that true spiritual consecration 
of the soul which alone can fill outward acts with light and 
life? 

The lamps may be of various shapes and patterns, but the 
oil must be the same in all. Whether, in burning, it shines 
out as repentance or faith or good works or worship, its 
essence is love, pure unselfish love to God and man. Where 
this love is wanting, there is no true spiritual life and no suf- 
ficient preparation to meet our Lord when he comes. 




Beware, my soul, take thou good heed lest thou in slumber lie, 
And, like the five, remain without, and knock, and vainly cry ; 
But watch, and bear thy lamp undimmed, and Christ shall gird 
thee on 

His own bright wedding-robe of light, the glory of the Son. 

0. Moultrie, 



August i. 



2Tfjat also Ije sfjoulti gat^rc togrtfjtr m one fyz cfjtfttcn 

Of — John xi. 52. 

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold, 
and one shepherd. — John x. 16. 

OUR blessed Master, looking around upon his followers, 
looked also beyond the few who were before him, beyond 
the walls of the sacred city, beyond the boundaries of the 
Holy Land, to the whole world ; and among people of every 
age, of every clime, he recognized his own and claimed them 
as his. As Christ said "other sheep." he saw you and me: 
he saw his own, his chosen ones, among the rich and poor, 
the abhorred and the despised, the savage Africans and hum- 
ble Koreans asking to be taught, and even the gospel-hard- 
ened of our own land turning a deaf ear to the divine call: 
and as he saw these "others," he said, "Them also I must 
bring." They are his; he must bring them. And he has left 
those who love him to take his place and - in his name " to 
bring them. He knows them and they will know him : they 
will heed God's call. 

And all these shall be one. A sweet promise is ours, a 
glorious fulfilment awaits us. There shall be one flock, one 
shepherd. We shall all be "like him." We shall all be of 
the Shepherd's heart and mind. No difference, — kings and 
beggars, rich and poor, civilized and heathen, "barbarian. 
Scythian, bond and free," all one in the full enjoyment of 
the freedom, the wealth, the knowledge, and the kingship 
that has come to us as joint-heirs with Christ ! 

Then there will be no " other sheep," for all shall have 
been made "perfect in one," — "one flock, one shepherd." 

We all shall think and speak the same 

Delightful lesson of thy grace, 
One undivided Christ proclaim, 

And jointly glory in thy praise. c. Wesley. 



August 2. 



Wfyombzx tioetfj not righteousness ts not of (!§otu 

1 John iii. 10. 

That which is bom of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of 
the Spirit is spirit. — John iii. 6. 

" A GREAT and universal proposition, — that which is be- 
1~\ gotten carries within itself the nature of that which 
begat it." Christ is teaching Nicodemus the necessity of the 
new birth. He had been born of the flesh, physically and 
intellectually developed, socially and even religiously culti- 
vated ; but the life he now sought came from another and 
higher germ. As we cannot cultivate the vegetable into ani- 
mal, so the physical cannot grow into the spiritual. Each 
has its own seed and fruit. Christ is the seed of the king- 
dom. " In him was life; and the life was the light of men." 
" He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the 
Son of God hath not life." 

True piety is more than sentiment or creed; it is life. 
" Christ in you the hope of glory." Reader, have you been 
born of the Spirit ? " Except a man be born again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of God." 



Light immortal, Light divine, 
Visit thou these hearts of thine, 

And our inmost being fill. 
If thou take thy grace away, 
Nothing pure in man will stay, 

All his good is turned to ill. 




CASWALL (translated). 



August 3. 



3Let tjje peace of @ob rule in gout fjearte, — Col. iii. 15. 



MAN is naturally at war with himself and with his 
Maker. Christ came to transform his heart, give 
him peace of conscience, and reconcile him to God. This 
he accomplished by submitting to death, through which he 
became the herald and dispenser of peace; and his parting 
benediction, " Peace be unto you," becomes, therefore, effica- 
cious to believers during all time. 

This peace is not the work of man, but the gift of God 
and the fruit of the Spirit, through " the truth as it is in 
Jesus." In its source, nature, and blessedness, it is super- 
natural, and transcends all human comprehension. It takes 
away the sting of guilt, silences the alarm of conscience, 
and gives assurance of pardon, reconciliation, and salvation. 
In all these respects the peace of Christ differs from that of 
this world, which can neither give nor take it away. It is 
real and self-evidencing, abides and comforts in prosperity 
and adversity, and lifts the soul of the believer so far above 
earth that he has his "conversation in heaven." And now, 
reader, may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, " which pass- 
eth all understanding," keep your heart and mind in the true 
faith unto everlasting life ! 



Peace be unto you. — John xx. 21. 




Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin? 
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within. 
Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed? 
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest. 

■ Turin 



BICKERSTETH. 



August 4. 



Sorrofo not, erjm w others rufjtcfj fjafre no J ope. 

1 Thess. iv. 13, 

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 
— John xiv. i. 

ALL Scripture is profitable, and given "that we through 
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope ; " but 
some texts are specially precious, short, easily understood 
and remembered, full of meaning, of wide application, and 
specifics in all circumstances. These words, breathing kind- 
ness and comfort, were spoken by our Lord when his own 
spirit was sorely troubled, the gloom of Gethsemane and the 
shadow of the cross gathering thickly upon his soul; yet 
unmindful of his own great sorrow, his tender sympathy 
went out to his disconsolate and desponding disciples, who 
were filled with perplexity, anxiety, fear, and grief. Heart- 
trouble is an old, universal malady. How cheering to the 
sons of sorrow and daughters of distress are these words of 
the great Consoler ! They are a sovereign balm for every 
wounded heart and a perfect panacea for all earthly trouble. 
Heard first in the upper room in Jerusalem, they have 
echoed ever since in the chambers of suffering and in the 
ears of the sorrowful. Faith in God as a living, loving 
Father is an antidote to all troubles arising from without. 




Trust in the Lord, forever trust, and banish all your fears ; 
Strength in the Lord Jehovah dwells, eternal as his years. 

WATTS. 



August 5. 



%tyz tfjat is gptrttual julfgetfj all tfjmp.— 1 Cor. h. 15. 

Are ye also yet without understanding ? — Matt. xv. 16. 

THE question was asked his disciples by our Lord. Why 
should he have occasion to ask it? They had the 
sublimest and most comprehensive Teacher the world has 
ever seen, — he who is the Light of the world and who is 
made unto all his people wisdom as well as righteousness was 
their instructor. And yet they were without understanding, 
for the question implies the fact. Alas ! it is equally true 
of all souls without divine illumination. A man may i; un- 
derstand all mysteries " in relation to the material universe, 
may weigh the gravity of the stars, tell their numbers, and 
measure their distances, and yet in the high sense in which 
the text suggests, may be without understanding. - There 
are men whose names have reached the utmost bounds of 
civilization, who sit in the cabinets of princes and guide the 
destiny of nations. " wise men,'' " learned men," •• influ- 
ential men," as they are called, and yet they are without 
understanding, if they are without the indwelling and abid- 
ing presence of the Holy Spirit. For " the fear of the 
Lord is the beginning of wisdom : and the knowledge of the 
Holy is understanding." 



Come, Light serene and still, 
Our inmost bosoms fill ! 

Dwell in each breast ; 
We know no dawn but thine. 
Send forth thy beams divine, 
On our dark souls to shine, 

And make us blest. 




Ray Palmer (Translation). 



August 6. 



SlSEfjatsoe&et toe agfc, toe recet&e of {jtttu — 1 John iii. 22. 

Receive thy sight : thy faith hath saved thee. — Luke xviii. 42. 

IT was a blind man and a beggar to whom these gracious 
words were spoken. Only one said anything so kind to 
him. The multitude counted him a nuisance with his im- 
portunity, and angrily told him to keep still. The disciples 
gave him no encouragement. As in the case of the children 
brought to Jesus, they were cold, while their Lord was ardent 
with compassion. But the character of the " Son of David" 
was exactly drawn in the Psalms of David : " He shall de- 
liver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him 
that hath no helper " (Psalm Ixxii. 12). The more lonely, 
wretched, needy, and friendless any man was, the more sure 
was he of hearing and help from the great Deliverer. 

The cry of need and of faith was the one thing the Master 
could never resist. " O woman, great is thy faith ; be it unto 
thee even as thou wilt." "If ye have faith as a grain of 
mustard, . . . nothing shall be impossible to you."' 

Bartimaeus went away with his eyes opened, That was 
his petition and request. What is yours ? The Lord is just 
the " same Jesus " that he was that day. " What wilt thou ? " 
" According to your faith be it unto you.' 1 




Look down in pity, Lord, we pray, 

On eyes oppressed by moral night, 
And touch the darkened lids, and say 

The gracious words, " Receive thy sight." 
Then in clear daylight shall we see 

Where walked the sinless Son of God, 
And aided by new strength from thee, 

Press onward in the path he trod. 

W, c. Bryant. 



August 7. 



£2£f}0tn fja&e £ in ijeaben but tfjee? — Psalm lxxiii. 25. 

Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? — JOHN 
xxi. 15. 

JESUS in tender compassion thus addressed Simon Peter, 
who had thrice denied him, but who afterward " went 
out and wept bitterly." The avenue by which he approached 
him was love. " Lovest thou me ? " The probe was gently 
inserted into the depths of his affections to prepare him for 
the sweet assurance of pardon, and for a wider and higher 
mission. The question was intensely personal, — " Lovest 
thou me? " Thus did the Saviour draw the sinner to him- 
self " with cords of a man, with bands of love." 

" Lovest thou me more than these " — thy brethren — love 
me ? Wilt thou again protest, " Though all men shall be 
offended because of thee, yet will / never be offended " ? In 
the school of experience he has learned so well the lessons 
of humility and self-distrust that he now avows his love 
most earnestly indeed, but without invidious and boastful 
comparisons. 

We, too, should love Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul, 
and strength, — far more than we love our possessions, em- 
ployments, friends, and relatives, yea, more than life itself 
(Luke xiv. 26, 33). We should with holy emulation ever 
strive to love him more than others love him, and to prove 
our love by an earnest and consecrated service, in obedience 
to the divine injunctions, — " Feed my lambs," " Feed my 
sheep," and " If ye love me, keep my commandments." 




Thou art the sea of love, 

Where all my pleasures roll ; 
The circle where my passions move, 

And centre of my soul. 

watts. 



August 8. 



Stroke all tfjmgs. — i Thess. v. 21. 

Tfofr? heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my 
nai?ie, saying, I a??i Christ ; and shall deceive many. — Matt. xxiv. 
4, 5- 

THE Christ sat within a circle of disciples. They had 
just crossed "black Kidron." They had turned their 
backs on the city doomed to be " left desolate." " Day was 
dying in the west" as they ascended Olivet, and they found 
themselves facing one of the grandest sights of earth, for 
they were " over against the temple," the shadows of whose 
massive proportions lay across the valley and on the moun- 
tain side. No wonder that after gathering about their 
Master, those disciples ventured to inquire the time set for 
the destruction of such magnificence as well as for the time 
of his advent. Remarkable is this reply, for it matched their 
need, not their want. He gave them not information, but in- 
struction. Better was it for them to be personally prepared 
than prophetically expert. Their inquiry evidenced danger. 
Their thinking was not clear. Confusion was imminent, and 
care must be taken. Judaic false Christs were coming. They 
did come ; fifteen of them, so it is said. But every age has 
its false Messiahs and its fictitious religiousness. Believers, 
beware of deceivers. 




Enable with perpetual light 
The dulness of our blinded sight ; 
Anoint and cheer our soiled face 
With the abundance of thy grace ; 
Keep far our foes, give peace at home ; 
Where thou art guide, no ill can come. 

Gregory the Great (translated). 



August 9. 



Is not tfjta ttje Christ? — John iv. 29. 

Go your way, and tell yohn what things ye have seen and heard. — 
Luke vii. 22. 

THESE words contain the answer of Jesus to the dis- 
ciples of John, who came to inquire as to his Messiah- 
ship. The Saviour says, " Go tell John what you have seen 
and heard." And what had these disciples seen and heard in 
the brief visit to Jesus ? They had seen the eyes of the blind 
opened and the tongue of the dumb loosed ; they had seen 
the lame, at his touch, walk forth with perfect soundness, and 
the leper, by his word, return to his home and friends per- 
fectly whole ; they had seen the dead rising from their graves 
and going forth in the enjoyment of life. Yes, more, to the 
poor, the despised, the outcast, a full, free salvation was 
preached. Go tell John these wondrous things, and he will 
see in them the fulfilment of the grand old prophecy of Isaiah 
about the Messiah. 

How precious the privilege, that we may take all our care 
to Jesus ! Does Jesus rest his Messiahship upon his works ? 
Then let it be ours to show by our works that we have been 
with Jesus and learned of him. May our works be such as 
will open the eyes of those spiritually blind, to see this Jesus 
as the one altogether lovely, and unstop the deaf ears that 
they may hear the soul-saving strains of this gospel, and oc- 
casion multitudes of dead souls to rise and stand forth to battle 
for the cause of King Jesus ! 




How beauteous were the marks divine, 

That in thy meekness used to shine, 

That lit thy lonely pathway, trod 

In wondrous love, O Son of God ! bishop a. c. coxe. 



August io. 



ILaging up in store far tijnnselbea a gooti foundation 
against tfje time to rome, — i Tim. vi. 19. 

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon 
of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into 
everlasting habitatio7is, — Luke xvi. 9. 

CHRIST here calls money by a hard name. Not that 
money has any immoral quality in itself, but it gets its 
stigma from its habitual application by men to selfish and 
sordid ends. Yet Christ shows us another side, and tells us 
that this much-abused thing may become a real power in 
adjusting our relations to the kingdom of God. The selfish 
lust for money breeds hatred ; yet money may be so used as 
to make friends in heaven. 

Christ draws his illustration from a low level. He shows 
how an unfaithful steward turned his fraud to advantage 
by making friends of his master's creditors. " Take a lesson 
from this shrewd worldly policy," says Christ. " Every poor 
and helpless brother whose load you lighten by your bene- 
factions, is knit to you by grateful love. The poor and sick 
and burdened shall greet you in heaven, saying, 4 I was hun- 
gry and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
drink ; I was a stranger and ye took me in.' And the King 
shall say, ' Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my 
brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.' " 




But there are joys that cannot die, 

With God laid' up in store ; 
Treasure beyond the changing sky, 



Brighter than golden ore. 



PHILIP DODDRIDGE. 



August ii. 



2Efje 3Urli fcnofoetfj tfjem tijat are fjfe, — 2 Tim. ii. 19. 

/ know thy works, a?zd where thou dwellest, even where Satan's 
seat is : and thou /widest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, 
even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who 
was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few 
things against thee, becatcse thou hast there them that hold the doctrine 
of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the 
children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit 
fornication, — Rev. ii. 13, 14. 

" T KNOW thy works," the Redeemer says to each of the 
JL seven angels and to us also. He knows our works 
and " the thoughts and intents of the heart." He knows 
that we dwell "where Satan's seat is," in days in which his 
faithful ones still suffer martyrdom. If by his grace we hold 
fast his name and do not deny the faith, he is the first to 
know and to commend it. 

" But I have a few things against thee." He is " of purer 
eyes than to behold evil," and cannot " look on iniquity." 
The angel and the church are rebuked on account of those 
" that hold the doctrine of Balaam " and " the doctrine of 
the Nicolaitanes," for evil teaching leads to evil living. Has 
he " a few," or many " things " against us ? " Who can 
understand his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults ! " 
But few or many, he calls on us to repent. 

He knows us, and that we may know him and ourselves, 
he has given us his Word, " for the word of God is quick 
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, pierc- 
ing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of 
the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and 
intents of the heart." 

Yet why, dear Lord, this tender care ? 
Why doth thy hand so kindly rear 
A useless cumberer of the ground, 
On which so little fruit is found ? 

E. SCOTT. 



August 12. 



(ZHje Horfc Ml perfect tfjat tetyd) concerned} me. 



And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all that 
which he hath given 7ne I should lose nothing, but sliould raise it up 
again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that 
every one which seeth the So/i, and believeth on him, may have ever- 
lasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day. — John vi. 



HOW precious are these texts ! They point us to the 
ineffable joys which the Father has in store for 
44 Christ's own." They twice make known to us " the will 
of the Father " and so unmistakably that none can doubt 
that God's thoughts toward us are "thoughts of peace." 
They proclaim the great salvation to be open and free to 
all men without exception, and its terms so easy that the 
serpent-bitten need but "look and live." They banish 
personal anxiety by demonstrating that they who are the 
"given to Christ of the Father," are they who " come " to 
him. In large capitals they set before us the certainty of 
the final perseverance of the saints. The " wounded spirit," 
wearied and oft borne back in the conflict, can rally under 
such an inspiration, and gather fresh strength in the thought, 
// is the will of the Father that I should not be lost! 

God does no half-work. Not one of Christ's saints will 
be found imperfect at the last day. They will all be abso- 
lutely fitted for his service. Not one of them will be missing. 
Nothing that belongs to them will be lost. 



Psalm cxxxviii. 8. 



39> 40- 




Trust in him, ye saints, forever ; 
He is faithful, changing never. 
Neither force nor guile can sever 



Those he loves from him. 



KELLY. 



August 13. 



tljat tourfjctfj gou toucfjrtlj tJ}e apple nf })fs m. 

Zech. ii. 8. 

Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in hearve?i i that 
one of these little ones should perish. — Matt, xviii. 14. 

THE " little ones," whether little children or disciples of 
childlike character, are very dear to the heavenly 
Father. Their humility and gentleness may not seem admir- 
able to the world, but in God's sight these qualities are better 
than the strength, self-confidence, and pride of those accounted 
great among men. 

The good Shepherd, who has reclaimed these " little ones " 
and brought them to a place of safety, will not cease to care 
for them. The heavenly Father, who holds them in such es- 
timation that they have guardians among those who ever 
stand in his presence, will not lightly regard any injury done 
to them. They who despise or put a stumbling-block before 
any of these little ones will surely bring upon themselves a 
terrible punishment: for these are kept by God as the apple 
of the eye, and he thinks of them continually. Their very 
helplessness endears them the more to him. and while all 
human might shall be smitten to the earth, these weak but 
trustful ones shall be eternally safe in the arms (5f his love. 




Now, these little ones receiving, 
Fold them in thy gracious arm ; 

There,, we know, thy Word believing, 
Only there, secure from harm. 



MVHLEX5ERG, 



August 14. 



SLorti, sfjeto us tfje Jatfjer, — John xiv. 8. 

He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent 
me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. — John xii. 44, 45. 

" TESUS cried;" his voice then rang clearly through the 



J temple's marble courts, as he uttered loudly this mys- 
tery of truth. So Jesus cries down through the ages to our- 
selves. The "cries" of Jesus, loud, loving, entreating, to 
heedless, self-deafened men ! 

" To believe, and to see." A few of those to whom he 
then cried did believe on him, were ready to follow, obey, 
that blessed voice. So, also, some of those to whom his cry 
now comes. But the " believing " involves the " seeing " 
Christ. As the heart yields to the cry of Jesus, in this belief 
comes, sooner or later, a mental and spiritual "vision " of the 
adorable One that floods the soul with joyous light. 

To believe, and so to see, Christ is to do more, — it is to 
know the Father too; it is to reach God, the infinite One, 
and the glory unapproachable. Like Moses, trembling, we 
too desire to see. Now the truth of Christ's divinity and the 
mystery of the union of the Persons in the Godhead are here 
involved ; we behold " God in Christ, reconciling the world 
unto himself." In the rapturous vision of Christ we believe, 
we see the Father himself; we behold, we reach unto God. 
O blessed anticipation of heaven's privilege, even here on 
earth ! Think of seeing God ! We do, in believing on 
Christ. 

Listen to this " cry " of Jesus ; believe Christ, and you shall 
see his beauty. In him you shall see the Father, and in time 
the full glories of the home above. 



Thou art the way ; to thee alone, 

From sin and death we flee. 
And he who would the Father seek, 

Must seek him, Lord, by thee. 

Bishop Doane. 





August 15. 



EHIjat manner of persons augfjt ge to bz ? — 2 peter m. u. 

Watch therefore : for ye know not what hour your Lord doth 
come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known 
in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and 
would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye 
also ready : for in such an hour as ye think not the Sen of man 
comet h. — Matt. xxiv. 42-44. 

OUR Lord assured his disciples that he would rise from 
the dead, ascend to heaven, and when he had prepared 
a place there, would return and receive them to himself. 
After his ascension angels came down to repeat the prom- 
ise. Peter preached it to the wondering Jews. Stephen saw 
heaven opened and Jesus ready to descend. The Thessalo- 
nians waited for the sublime event. Paul proclaimed it the 
"blessed hope." The Epistles present their exhortations in 
view of its near approach, — one book is devoted to its de- 
tails, while the last message the ascended Lord sends down 
to earth is, " Behold, I am coming quickly.'" and the recorded 
prayer of the Church when truly listening is, " Even so come, 
Lord Jesus." 

He is coming, not when men think, nor in the seasons and 
periods they have fixed, but unexpectedly. Therefore as a 
Christian discharge your responsibility. See that ycu really 
have life, for this sudden advent will break up the great house 
of Christendom, reveal the emptiness of much profession and 
the faithlessness of many stewards. 




Be ye as they that wait 

Always at'the Bridegroom's gate ; 
Even though he tarry late, 

Watch, brethren, watch. 

H. BOXAR. 



August 16. 



SBIjo, fcofjnx Ije came, anti fjati seen tfje grace of 
ruas glai. — Acts xi. 23. 

Likezvise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels 
of God over one sinner that repenteth. 

It was i?ieet that we should make meny, and be glad : for this thy 
brother zuas dead, and is alive again ; and vuas lost and is found. — 
Luke xv. 10, 32. 

AMOXG the angels, rather than by men. It is a divine 
inspiration thus to express the love to which our fallen 
nature wakes at last, and only after the bitter experiences of 
life. On the one side we see the idea of the celestial mes- 
sengers, who always do acceptable service in heaven as they, 
taught by the " ineffable vision." recognize the possibilities 
of a new manhood in the faint sparks of genuine repentance, 
and strike anew their harps in praise of the love which saves 
that which is lost; on the other side, the father of a prodi- 
gal son, who has wearied his heart with knowledge of many 
sins and ingratitude, and felt almost sick unto death with 
hope deferred, then rushing forth to meet the lost one and 
take him to his bosom, forgetting the sorrows, blotting out 
the sins of the past, and lifting the ingrate as near as possi- 
ble to his old place. Truly, the mind which had learned the 
heavenly art to join these two thoughts in such harmony and 
illustrated them in life was the Word of God, — the mind 
of that which is nearest all that we call God, his only begot- 
ten Son. 

Through all the courts the tidings flew, 

And spread the joy around ; 
The angels tuned their harps anew, — 

The long-lost son is found. 

UNKNOWN. 



August 17. 



£ can tio all tjjmgs tfjwugfj (Mjrfet fofjtcf) strengtfjetutt) 

Xltt. — Phil. iv. 13. 

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them. — Matt. vii. 12. 

THIS command of our Lord was the Golden Rule of his 
own life. His heart, given to us, won our hearts for 
him. Love's conquest of self is its victory over others. 
But how almost impossible to place others on the throne of 
self ! Therefore Jesus joined the hard requirement of duty 
with sweet words of promise : " If ye, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
your Father, which is in heaven, give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him." The promise fulfilled, the duty is easy. 

Let us then to-day, communing first with God, go out into 
the selfish world, hoping and striving to live unselfish lives. 
If the how much more of our Father's heavenly measure 
shall gauge the power of his Spirit in our hearts, w r e will 
indeed be able to " follow the steps " of him who " came not 
to be ministered unto but to minister." And this measure 
is to " them that ask." 

They may keep the Golden Rule who trust the Golden 
Promise. 




Grant, then, this one request, 

Whatever be denied, — 
That love divine may rule my breast, 

And all my actions guide. 

S. STENNETT (altered). 



August 18. 



jfar ta me to Ube (Efjrtsi — Phil, i 21. 

//to findeth his life shall lose it : and he that loseth his life for 
my sake shall find it. — Matt. x. 39. 

/^UR present life is not an end, but a means to an end. 



Childhood is but a preparation for manhood and 
womanhood. If we set up an infantile standard of life, 
and seek to bring all the years of childhood and youth into 
subjection to it, we fail to reach the true life. Now, the whole 
of our earthly existence is but the infancy, the dawn of a life 
meant to expand and ripen into eternal blessedness. We are 
here to be educated for eternal life. Whatever of present en- 
joyment or advantage would interfere with our education for 
heaven, must be surrendered; and whatever loss of friends 
or fortune or earthly honor or pleasure may be necessary to 
maintain our Christian integrity must be accepted. What 
seems to be gain in the momentary advantages of wrong- 
doing will prove an eternal loss ; and what seems to be loss 
in adhering to the right will be an everlasting gain. 





What is my being, but for thee, 
Its sure support ? Its noblest end 

Thine ever-smiling face to see, 
And serve the cause of such a Friend. 



Philip Doddridge. 



August 19. 



Ecstst t!jt fccbil, ant jjc fctll flee from gou, 

James iv. 7. 

(SV^ ///^ hence, Satan : for it is written^ Then shalt worship the 
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. • — Matt. iv. 10. 



-1— ' usurp what belongs to God. Christ could not worship 
him, for worship belongs to God alone. To obey Satan's 
least command is to disobey God. Whatsoever we give to 
Satan in the way of worship or service we take from God. 

Satan is insolently aggressive, and the more dangerous 
because so. Look at his persistent assault on Christ. Our 
Lord was angered by his persistency : it is too often success- 
ful with us. Instead of growing friendlier with Satan's repe- 
titions of temptation, let us consider each a greater insult than 
the preceding. The presence of Satan is an abomination to 
a pure one. He is the sum of evils. His smooth insinua- 
tions should excite horror, instead of winning us. We should 
be afraid to listen to his flattering promises. To effectually 
rid ourselves of Satan we must peremptorily order him out of 
our sight. He will blind and inveigle us if we permit him to 
ply us, — for he can appear as an angel of light. One who 
temporizes with Satan voluntarily puts himself in his power. 




temptation of Satan is an attempt on his part to 




Hence, Prince of darkness ! hence, my foe ! 



Another Lord has purchased me : 
My conscience tells of sin, yet know, 
Baptized in Christ. I fear not thee. 



J. J. RAMBACH. 



August 20. 



jfor all tfjmgs are for gout safes, — 2 Cor. iv. 15. 

A?id all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye 
shall receive. — MATT. xxi. 22. 

" T)RAYER is the cry of faith to the ear of mercy.*' Our 



_L text invites us to pray, encourages us to pray, and 
promises us the largest and most blessed results, conditioned 
only upon faith. " Unbelief, like the grub in the tap-root, 
cuts off the fundamental sources of life." Sincere prayer is 
altogether reasonable. " Will he who advises you to ask, re- 
fuse afterward to give what you ask ? " Do not stagger at the 
broadness of the promise, " all things." He is able ; and 
what is needful, what is best for us, he will not deny. What 
has not been granted in answer to the prayer of faith ! Saint 
Chrysostom says : " The strength of fire has been subdued ; 
the rage of lions bridled : anarchy hushed : wars extinguished ; 
the elements appeased ; demons expelled : the chains of death 
burst; the gates of heaven opened ; diseases assuaged; frauds 
repelled ; cities rescued from destruction ; the sun stayed in its 
course, — in a word, whatever is an enemy to man hath been 
destroyed."' and whatever is a blessing hath been granted. 
But if we insist upon having " all things '* for ourselves let us 
be careful how and what we ask, keeping in mind that God 
knows best. 



What a friend we have in Jesus, 

All our sins and griefs to bear ! 
What a privilege to carry 

Everything to God in prayer ! 
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, 

Oh, what needless pain we bear, 
All because we do not carry 

Everything to God in prayer. 





Unknown. 



August 21. 



SDottd&eiJ ruttf) tfjt feeling of om infirmities- — Heb. iv. 15. 

/ thirst. — John xix. 28. 

THESE words fulfilled Scripture, though not spoken simply 
to fulfil it. They thus became one of the many fingers 
with which prophecy pointed to Jesus as the one of whom 
" Moses and the prophets did speak." Every incident of his 
death was foretold, — the time, the gambling of the soldiers 
for his coat, the mocking cry of the mob : each act in the 
mighty tragedy. " He died according to the Scriptures." 
Thus these words helped to tell the world, even in his death, 
that he was the Son of God. We rest then with glad confi- 
dence on his finished work. '-He is able to save to the 
uttermost." He is God. 

Yet he was a real sufferer. Wounded soldiers make the 
battle-field pitiful with their cries for " Water ! " Jesus felt 
the thirst. His body was tortured. He knows how to sym- 
pathize w T ith us. He wept with Martha and Mary. He ever 
sympathizes with his people. 

We cannot hesitate to trust him, for he is God. We cannot 
fear to draw nigh to him with confidence, for he is also a lov- 
ing and tender man. 

Touched with a sympathy within, 

He knows our feeble frame. 
He knows what sore temptations mean, 

For he has felt the same. 

watts. 



August 22. 



£ obtamcti mnxg, because £ tift tt tgnorantlg. 
1 Tim. i. 13. 

Fathers forgive theni ; for they know not what they do. — Luke 
xxiii. 34. 

IS this a prayer for my soul ? Yes, if I am still among the 
enemies of the cross, and yet know not what I am doing. 
It w r as answered in a few hours for one who railed on him j 
and for another who was in command of his execution: and 
in a few days for thousands who were more guilty still. It 
may be answered for my soul now, but it can be answered 
in only one way, — by purging my conscience from its igno- 
rance, by pricking me to the heart, and by giving me 
repentance. 

Perhaps the reader is now first enlightened, and made 
partaker of the Holy Spirit, and tastes the good Word of 
God, and thus knows for the first time that a sinful life is 
crucifying the Son of God afresh, and putting him to an 
open shame. Then this is the solemn hour to be renewed 
unto repentance and forgiveness. 

Still our Advocate in heaven, 
Prays the prayer on earth begun : 

cfi Father, show their sins forgiven ; 
Father, glorify thy Son." 

C. Wesley. 



August 23. 



IZfctcrg man tfjat Ijatfj tfjts Jjspc m Ijtm purtfietf) Ijtmsclt 

1 John iii. 3. 
Blessed are the pure in heart. — Matt. v. 8. 

SWEETEST of beatitudes from the lips of the blessed 
Jesus ! It suggests the parable of the leaven and those 
kindred words, " Behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 
Sinners are purchased and then purified, for purity is the 
condition and the measure of true happiness, of fellowship 
with God. of fitness for the society, pleasures, and employ- 
ments of heaven. " That he might purify unto himself a 
peculiar people," Christ gave himself for us, spake that word 
through which we are sanctified, shed that precious blood 
which cleanseth from all sin, and sent the Spirit of holiness, 
purifying our hearts through faith. 

Heart-purity secures purity of life and character, for out 
of the heart are the issues of life," and the fountain deter- 
mines the stream. It secures transforming visions of God, 
for we '-beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory to glory." It is 
the heavenly character whereby God is seen in his Word and 
works, and shall be seen in all the splendors of his glory. 
We know that " we shall be like him, for we shall see him 
as he is." 

" Create in me a clean heart, O God." 




See, Lord, the travail of thy soul 
Accomplished in the change of mine, 

And plunge me, every whit made whole, 
In all the depths of love divine. 

c. Wesley. 



August 24. 



£0 sty alt tljou fintr fa&our, — Prov. iii. 4. 

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I 
have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. — JoHX 
xv. 10. 

KEEP my commands, abide in my love, — obedience the 
condition of favor. Nature everywhere teaches and 
enforces this same law. 

All abiding art. all the triumphs of science and industry, 
bear witness that success is attained only in strict conformity 
to Nature's commands. Then even the lightning will become 
a useful, peaceful partner. 

God in Christ, the incarnation of the divine love, wisdom, 
and power, woos the soul of man, offering forgiveness and 
seeking to secure in us a voluntary, loving obedience to the 
unchangeable truth of the universe", — the commands of God. 
All blessings follow if we " abide in his love." 

There is no possible prosperity for the soul of man save 
in this obedience of faith. The abiding oneness of the 
Father and the Son, the glory of that loving communion, 
stands over against the perfected obedience of the Son of 
God. " My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and 
to finish his work/' 

" If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." 




Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee ; 

Thou art my God, in thee I live and move. 
Oh, let thy loving Spirit lead me forth 

Into the land of righteousness and love ! 

MONSELL. 



August 25. 



jfot tlje transgression of mg people fcnas ije stricken. 



Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. — Luke xxiii. 46. 

THIS last cry of our Lord on the cross betokens perfect 
poise of spirit, perfect trust in his Father, and perfect 
confidence in the all-sufficiency of his atoning sacrifice. It 
is true that he had suffered extreme anguish of soul on ac- 
count of the hiding of his Father's face. For on the cross 
he " bare our sins in his own body." There it " pleased the 
Lord to bruise him." " For he was wounded for our trans- 
gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastise- 
ment of our peace was laid on him." It was then that the 
Father hid his face from the " Son of his love." It was then 
that Jesus cried out : " My God, my God, why hast thou 
forsaken me?" It was then that the sun grew black and 
the rocks rent, and the veil of the temple was rent in the 
midst. But now all is calm in the heart of our adorable 
Redeemer, and he says, " Father, into thy hands I commend 
[commit] my spirit." The great atoning work was accom- 
plished, so far as it could be on the earth. It is true that as 
our great High-Priest Christ must appear in the presence of 
the Father for us, when risen from the dead. But on the 
cross Jesus cried, " It is finished." Redemption is wrought, 
and every one that believes may be saved. O blessed and 
glorious fact ! Who can sufficiently adore its divine author ? 



Isaiah liii. 8. 




A holy quiet reigns around, — 

A calm which life nor death destroys ; 

And nought disturbs that peace profound 
Which his unfettered soul enjoys. 



BARBAULD. 



August 26. 



If 00 bz tfjat fee suffer fettfj fjtm, tfjat fee mag 6e also 

glottfietl togetfjet. — Romans viii. 17. 

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, a?td persecute you, and 
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, 
and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven : for so per- 
secuted they the prophets which were before you. — Matt. v. ii, 12. 

GOD'S blessings are so much greater than any possible 
human afflictions that any man receiving the first is 
pronounced " blessed,*' no matter what he may have of the 
second. Has man ecstasy of agony ? God can reverse it all 
into ecstasy of pleasure. Between two notes in jarring dis- 
cord he can put a third that shall make all into delicious har- 
mony. Martyrs have moved aloft their blazing fingers like 
torches, and shouted for the joy of victory, notwithstanding the 
fire. Bodies have writhed in pain that spectators could hardly 
endure to see, but the soul has gloried in the rapture of God's 
visitations. John Huss kneeling beside the fagot-piled stake 
poured out his soul in prayer, using the words of the Thirty- 
first Psalm, and closed with its grand paean, " Blessed be the 
Lord : for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a 
strong city. O love the Lord, all ye his saints. Be of good 
courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope 
in the Lord." 

John says of Christ, " Having loved his own he loved them 
unto the end." The uttermost of God for good is far beyond 
the uttermost of man for evil. God commands us to rejoice 
and be exceeding glad. That command is not grievous. It 
brings one into the goodly fellowship of prophets and martyrs. 
Is there any other way of attaining to that lofty companion- 
ship ? Paul even coveted a fellowship of Christ's sufferings. 



Finding, following, keeping, struggling, Is he sure to bless? 
Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, answer, Yes. 




J. NEALE (Translation). 



August 27. 



ilort, increase our fattij* — Luke xvii. 5, 

Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, 
ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place ; and it 
shall remove ; and nothing shall be impossible unto you, Hoivbeit this 
kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. — Matt. xvii. 20, 21. 

CHRIST was away from his disciples for a little. By 
even that brief absence they lost their power. They 
could not cast the evil spirit out of the possessed child. 
When Christ had performed the miracle, they asked why they 
had failed. He tells them it was because of unbelief. A liv- 
ing faith will work the impossible. A mustard seed being 
alive can be matched against the inert mass of a mountain. 
Science tells us that the weakest life is too much for the 
largest mass of mere matter. The smallest stream will draw 
down the mountain. Faith in Christ is a living force. It is 
not hyperbole to say it can move mountains. Besides this, 
Christ says such an extreme case required special effort. 
Some victories are easily won ; some devils easily cast out. 
But this was a violent case and of long standing. It needed 
prayer and fasting, — that is, reliance on God and self-disci- 
pline. When our work fails, like the disciples we should 
seek the reason. That is the first condition of doing better ; 
and the Master tells us we will find the reason either in a 
lack of faith that takes hold on God, or a lack of self-renun- 
ciation. The child's definition of faith covered these two 
points when she said in a child's simplicity and a saint's 
knowledge, " Faith is letting go of everything else and taking 
hold of God." 




I am trusting thee for power, 

Thine can never fail ; 
Words which thou thyself shalt give me 

Must prevail. 

F. R. HAVERGAL. 



August 28. 



Perfect tfjrtmgfj suffer fog*. — Hbb. h. 10. 



Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me : for thou 
sowourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. — 
Matt. xvi. 23. 

THIS is our Lord's answer to Peter at Caesarea Philippi. 
It is the same as his answer to the Devil in the wilder- 
ness. The temptations were the same; namely, to gain the 
blessings of the kingdom without the cross. It is a tempta- 
tion that comes to us as followers of Jesus. Our answer must 
be the same. In this world of sin salvation can only be gained 
by sacrifice. In Jesus' case it was absolutely necessary for 
him to suffer in order to save men ; so sacrifice is necessary 
for us. We must take up our cross and follow Jesus. What 
that cross shall be he only can determine. He alone knows 
our characters ; he would perfect them. He alone knows our 
destiny; he would educate and fit us for it. He alone knows 
how we can best glorify our Father, and so gives us the oppor- 
tunity. When, then, his loving heart has prepared, and his 
hand has brought some cross for us to bear, let us know that 
all temptation to complain and resist is satanic, and let us 
bear it with patient cheerfulness, knowing that "all things 
work together for good " to his people. 



Must Jesus bear the cross alone, 

And all the world go free ? 
No, there 's a cross for every one, 

And there 's a cross for me. 

That consecrated cross I '11 bear 

Till Christ shall set me free ; 
And then go home, my crown to wear, 

For there 's a crown for me. 

Thomas Shepherd (altered). 




August 29. 



Simon Peter attgfoetrt anti saft, 2H)ou art t|je Cfjrtgt, 
tfje Son of tfje Itbmg (§oti, — Matt. xvi. 16. 

This is the zvork of God> that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 
— John vi. 29. 

THUS our blessed Lord answered the people's eager 
question, " What shall we do, that we might work the 
works of God ? " Eternal life, then, cannot be obtained, as 
the people supposed, by "works," at all; but only by faith. 
To " believe on him whom he hath sent " is our one primary 
work, and without it no other work can be acceptable to him. 
A tireless following of Christ for loaves and fishes is not " the 
work of God," nor a wondering admiration of his peerless 
character and life, nor yet, even, a fervent prophesying in 
his name and a working again of his greatest miracles. We 
must begin with, " I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son 
of God, which should come into the world." The sole object 
of our faith, Jesus must also be all to our faith, — our "wis- 
dom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." 

But "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." As 
the body needs the spirit, and trees need foliage and fruit to 
proclaim life, so the Christian must justify his faith to others 
by bringing forth the "things that accompany salvation." 
Indeed, where there is a true saving faith, its "works" will 
be as spontaneous as the clear streams which flow softly from 
a living fountain. 




My faith looks up to thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary, 

Saviour divine ! 
Now hear me while I pray ; 
Take all my guilt awav. 
Oh, let me from this day 

Be wholly thine, hay palmek. 



August 30. 



jfot none of ug Ifaetfj to fjtntSElf* — Romans xiv. 7. 

JPZ?* w/zto the world because of offences ! for it must needs be that 
offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh ! 
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend tine, cut them off, and cast 
them from thee : it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, 
rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 
— Matt, xviii. 7, 8. 

OUR Lord means by offences stumbling-blocks, which 
cause men to fall into sin, and are therefore a fruitful 
source of evil in the world. So long as sin and Satan have 
power over men there will be such stumbling-blocks; and 
although it is the Evil One who thus seeks to bring dishonor 
on Christ and his cause, yet those through whom he acts as 
agents will be held to a strict account for resulting evil. 

It is a comforting thought, however, that God can and does 
often overrule such offences for good. They may serve to 
strengthen Christian character, and show who can be de- 
pended on ; and yet no true believer should knowingly or 
willingly become a tool of Satan to injure Christ's cause. He 
should be ready promptly to give up any course, practice, 
employment, or indulgence, however he may value it, which 
is a stone of stumbling to himself or others, and leads to sin. 

Let us, then, never persist in what is plainly misleading to 
persons of weak faith, and causes them to fall, even though 
it may not be in itself sinful. Let us abandon everything 
that is injurious to our spiritual life, exposes us to overpower- 
ing temptation, and is a serious drawback to our progress 
and usefulness as Christians. 



I must the fair example set ; 

From those that on my pleasure wait 

The stumbling-block remove ; 
Their duty by my life explain, 
And still in all my works maintain 

The dignity of love. c. Wesley. 




August 31. 



Psalm i. 6. 

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou 
canst not bear them which are evil : and thou hast tried them which 
say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars : 

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left 
thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and 
repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, 
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 
— Rev. ii. 2, 4, 5. 

THIS declaration of God's omniscience is to impress us 
with the fact that God looks beyond the professions, 
resolutions, and desires of his people. Many of these are 
fair and earnest, but buds and blossoms must bring fruit, or 
they live and die to no purpose. The Master, as he walks in 
the midst of his Church, discovers everything. He looks at 
the internal as well as the external. It is work which devel- 
ops the character. Labor in the Christian life is not pas- 
time ; to do the work required of us must be unto weariness. 
The sweat of the face is the result of the labor which brings 
bread to the hungry ; so the sweat of the heart is found in 
Lhe labor unto weariness of the Christian. Nothing marks 
the persevering, successful endurance of the Christian like the 
patience with which he does and suffers for his Lord. 

Our Lord's tenderness prompts him first to commend every 
good act of theirs, and then, as a warning, to condemn what 
he cannot approve. 




Should we wander from thy fold, 
And our love to thee grow cold, 
With a pitying eye behold. 
Lord, forgive and save. 

MORRIS. 



September i. 



&fyz frtenti of tfje bridegroom ♦ ♦ ♦ rrjoketJ] greatlg fo= 
cause of tfje fjrftegroom's bote. — joHNiii. 29. 

K? friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. — John 

xv. 14. 

EVERY man needs a friend. No one can live alone. He 
must have companionship, or life would be a dreary 
solitude. But it must be a true friend; a false friend is 
worse than none. The flatterer, who tells pleasant false- 
hoods to deceive, can work more mischief than the worst 
enemy. The true friend is one who sees things as they are, 
who perceives the weaknesses of his most intimate compan- 
ion, but who bears with his infirmities for the sake of all in 
him that is good. 

The divine Friend may be ours if we but return his affec- 
tion. We can obtain his friendship by giving him our own ; 
and this we are to prove by simple trust and obedience. 
This giving up of ourselves to him is not an abdication of 
our personality, an adoption of the Jesuit rule that a man 
must become a cadaver to be vitalized and animated by an- 
other intelligence and will than his own. Our Master asks 
not for the dead body, but for the living soul ; and a man is 
never so full of life, so "vital in every part," with all his 
faculties strung to their utmost intensity, as when he gives 
himself up to the control of him whose service is perfect 
freedom. Once enter into this new life, and we shall find 
it blessed indeed. 




Hail, Prince of life, forever hail ! 

Redeemer, Brother, Friend ! 
Though earth and time and life shall fail, 

Thy praise shall never end. 



Samuel medley. 



September 2. 



%z tfrat tomrtlj to (gci must idtctir, — Heb. xi. 6. 

If thou canst believe, all things a?'e possible to him that believeth. — 
Mark ix. 23. 

WHAT inexhaustible possibilities lie in faith ! God him- 
self is the unseen author of the visible universe, and 



it was by faith that the worlds were framed, so that things 
that are seen were not made of things that do appear. 

In the sublime galaxy woven with divine hand all in and 
through the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, the light that 
shines from every star is faith. 

It was this that carried Xoah across the flood. It was 
this that gave strength to .Moses to deliver the people of 
God from Egypt, to train them in the wilderness, and to 
transfer them to the Promised Land. It was this that ena- 
bled Israel to hold to the hope of the promise until Jesus 
came. This animated the feeble few of Galilee to carry the 
gospel to the perishing world. This is the power by winch 
every sainted Christian has triumphed in life and in death 
and entered home at last. Our blessed Saviour is himself 
the author and the finisher of faith. 

" If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that 
believeth."' 





Lord, I believe ; but oft I know 
My faith is cold and weak. 

My weakness strengthen, and bestow 
The confidence I seek. 



J. R. WREFORD. 



September 3. 



33g Iflfre ^er&e one anotfjer. — Gal. v. 13. 

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well ; for so I am. 
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also 
ought to wash one another' 's feet. For I have given you an example, 
that ye should do as I have done to you. — John xiii. 13-15. 

AN Oriental custom is made to teach an important lesson, 
as one of the lowliest offices in a servant's work is 
performed by the world's great Teacher. By a reverse of 
the ordinary method the Master turns servant and minister, 
and washes the feet of his disciples and puts upon them the 
obligation to do for each other as equals the service he had 
done them as their Lord. Feet-washing as a rite of hospi- 
tality is no longer practised, owing to the changed conditions 
of life and society; but the example of love and humble 
ministration to our fellow-beings stands for our perpetual 
imitation. 

With such an example we need not deem any service for 
humanity too lowly. The Master has ennobled it by his 
divine hand, and our highest dignity in spiritual manhood 
is attained, when like him, we humble ourselves to do a 
generous act to some fellow-man. The mission of the Lord's 
disciples is to carry the means for mental renovation and 
moral purification to all who need it. 




Kind deeds of peace and love betray 
Where'er the stream has found its way ; 
But where these spring not rich and fair 
The stream has never wandered there. 



Drum mono. 



September 4. 



f^e leatietfj me bz&foz tfje still foaterg. — Psalm xxiii. 2. 

//" tf/zy man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that 
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, oat of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water. — John vii. 37, 38. 

STRONGER symbol of intense unrest it would be difficult 
to find. The shipwrecked sailor, wave-tossed, under 
the burning heat of tropical sun, knows its full meaning. 
Fevered blood, throbbing temples, parched lips, burning 
throat, swollen tongue, — these combine to produce a climax 
of agony. Than extreme thirst, there is no worse physical 
torment. It wrings from the divine One the only expression 
of bodily anguish as he hangs upon the cross. " I thirst ! " 
This is the mate7'ial culmination. Dives looking up out of 
his place of torment and seeing Lazarus at rest in Abraham's 
bosom, begs for a drop of water to cool his thirsting tongue. 
Thirst, thirst ! Fit symbol is it of the fevered unrest of 
a sin-driven soul. But what if a bubbling fountain has been 
opened beside the way ? Surely thirsty men will halt and 
drink. What ecstasy as they quaff the crystal liquid and 
lave their dusty hands and bathe their weary brows ! But 
Christ is such a fountain providentially opened beside life's 
tortuous way for thirsting souls. He is not some desert 
mirage, but a " well of living water." They who drink of 
this water shall cease thirsting. Art thou thirsty ? Hark ! 
The mighty Christ tenderly calleth, " Come unto me and 
drink ! " 




Come, then, with all your wants and wounds, 

Your every burden bring. 
Here love, unchanging love abounds, 

A deep, celestial spring. samuel medley (altered). 



September 5. 



pfeal me, © ILorti, ani E gfjall be fjealei,— Jer. xvii. 14. 



OUR text presents unto us another one of those incidents 
which showeth the mercy and goodness of God, and 
how anxious Christ as the great Physician was to do good, 
— the care of the Shepherd for the sheep, the Redeemer for 
the redeemed. 

The great drawback to the world is that it fails to devise 
methods to fully enhance its glory; we fail to find out in 
the years we have to spend upon the earth all which a cu- 
rious mind imagines. If anything has baffled science, it 
is that scientists have failed to discover and devise methods 
to enable them to master her fully; if anything has created 
uneasiness among those of the medical world, it is that which 
has hindered a successful treatment of patients. But dis- 
similar to all of these, Christ, the healer divine, walks into 
the midst of many maladies, — the halt, the blind, and those 
afflicted for many years, — saying, Wilt thou be made whole ? 
And, behold, him who accepted his overtures of mercy and 
love is made whole from that hour. The length of time he 
was sick, and the completeness in the cure, all but increases 
our faith in him whose very words make one wise unto sal- 
vation, and showeth that he is the sinner's friend, and would 
that all would turn unto God and live. 



Wilt thou be made whole ? — John v. 6. 




The great Physician now is near, 

The sympathizing Jesus ; 
He speaks, the drooping heart to cheer, 

Oh, hear the voice of Jesus ! 



Unknown. 



September 6. 



If our fjeart condemn us not tfjen fjabe foe confidence 

totoart @OtU — i John iii. 21. 

//z^w bring thy gift to the altar, and there re?7iemberest thai thy 
brother hath ought against thee ; leave there thy gift before the altar 
and go thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, aiid then come and 
offer thy gift. — Matt, v. 23, 24. 

THE enthusiasm of love is the soul of devotion. The rap- 
ture of heart to heart communion with God comes only 
to souls fully " reconciled by the blood of the cross." We 
can never hope to have God at peace with us if we are not at 
peace with our brother. The richest gifts and sacrifices will 
lie like Cain's rotting fruits and wilted flowers upon the altar, 
unaccepted, if we are conscious of being unreconciled to our 
brother. Holy affections must conquer all personal antipa- 
thies. The injured one can most readily and easily take the 
first steps toward reconciliation. Jesus was made a sacrifice, 
and his last words upon the " offering up of himself " were 
in prayer pleading with the Father for his enemies. When 
our religion becomes impassioned with Christ's love, like a 
fire fusing and refining the gold from the dross, we will waive 
aside weak formalities and travel a long distance to conquer 
the heart of our brother. When reconciled, our offerings 
and gifts on the altar will become " a sweet-smelling savor " 
like Abel's, and we shall hold the inward testimony of the 
Holy Spirit that we " please God." 




Kindle thou the sacrifice 

That upon my lips is lying ; 
Clear the shadows from mine eyes, 

That, from every error flying, 
No strange fire may in me glow 
That thine altar doth not know. 

FROM THE GERMAN. 



September 7. 



Jrom Sesus ffl^rfet ♦ • . tfje fattfjfttl Witness. — Rev. i. 5. 

/ Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto yon these things in the 
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and 
morning star. — Rev. xxii. 16. 

THE Patmos revelations are unique. There is nothing like 
them in the literature of the world. Some are so weird 
and wild as to seem incredible, — the fancies of an opium- 
eater rather than sober and stable facts. But the glorified 
Saviour attests their truth by assuming all responsibility for 
them, — "I Jesus." 

Not only does he certify this apocalypse, he also certifies 
himself to be eminently trustworthy. " The sure mercies of 
David " was a covenant phrase in the early times, and verily 
the author of these mercies, as well as their splendid product, 
could not deceive his people by playing with their fears or 
exaggerating their hopes. Therefore, my soul, do not dis- 
dain his teachings in the Church and in thyself. Heed his 
warnings, and exult in his promises. Keep on trusting him ; 
what thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter. 
Earthly life may be lonelier than this island of exile in the 
^gean, — the raptures few and the sobs many ; but if Jesus 
shines upon thee all will be well. 




We love sweet voices, and God makes them mute ; 

We hold no treasure sure to last a day ; 
We fill our hearts with flowers that have no root ; 

We build snow huts that summer melts away; 
Yet never need our weak lives hopeless roam, 

For One, descended from a brighter land, 
Who came to save, will guide his children home, 

And keep secure all trusted to his hand. 



September 8. 



%z forgettetfj not tjjs erg of tfje fjumble. — Psalm Lx. 12. 

Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto 
him, though he bear long with them ? — Luke xviii. 7. 

OUCH is Christ's application of his story of the unjust 



w judge. An officer of the law, set to do justice, is deaf 
to the appeals of a poor widow, until, wearied by her impor- 
tunity, he hears and heeds to be rid of the matter. If such 
be the conduct of an iniquitous magistrate, how certainly 
shall our compassionate Father, who loves every member of 
the household of faith, his purpose of discipline being accom- 
plished, open both ear and hand in response to his outcrying 
children. 

Our enemies are many. The world storms upon us. The 
flesh tempts us. Satan is inquisitive and ubiquitous. Sor- 
row sits, an unbidden guest, at the hearthstone. Death, with 
hour-glass and scythe, strides across the threshold. Feeble, 
affrighted, dazed, where shall we look? What shall we do? 
Look up ! Cry out ! Keep looking up ! Keep crying out ! 
It is only a question of time. God will surely appear to vin- 
dicate our faith and deliver our soul. 



He bows his gracious ear, 

We never plead in vain ; 
Then let us wait till he appear, 

And pray, and pray again. 

John Newton. 





September 9. 



ffiSfjat must £ 1(0 to fie safati ? — acts xvi. 30. 

Go ye into all the zvorld, and preach the gospel to every creature. 
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; hit he that believeth 
not shall be da??med. — Mark xvi. 15, 16. 

DUTY, destiny, are the impressive words suggested and 
held before the mind with growing clearness and 
power by this, our Lord's last command. 

The duty is every Christian's, and is urged by the alter- 
native eternal destiny of every unsaved soul, — a duty whose 
obligation will not be lessened until every creature in all the 
world has heard the gospel, and either accepted or rejected 
the salvation it offers ; whose discharge means the telling 
simply and lovingly to the guilty, of a pitying Saviour ; to 
the penitent, of a pardoning Saviour; to the troubled, of 
a peace-giving Saviour; to the sorrowing, of a sympathizing 
Saviour ; to the helpless, of an almighty Saviour; to all who 
will come unto God by him, of a welcoming and sufficient 
Saviour. And when these receive and trust the good news 
and believe on Jesus, they shall be saved and not damned. 

How startling and wonderful that the eternal destiny of 
souls already condemned should turn upon the faithfulness 
to duty of those who are saved ! How stimulating and glo- 
rious the results and rewards of patient and persevering 
obedience to our Saviour's parting request, souls saved 
from death, and they by whom they were turned unto right- 
eousness shining as the stars forever and ever ! 



Whosoever heareth, shout, shout the sound ! 
Send the blessed tidings all the world around ! 
Spread the joyful news wherever man is found, 
" Whosoever will, may come." 



September io. 



Qfyz forapong of our foarfare are not carnal. 
2 Cor. x. 4. 

i 5 ?^ up thy sword into the sheath ; the cup which my Father hath 
given me, shall I not drink it? — John xviii. 1 1. 

THE servant is to be as his master. That kingdom which 
is "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost'' 
has no need of carnal weapons. How evidently out of place 
for Peter to draw his sword in defence of one at the mere 
recognition of whom his enemies had already fallen to the 
ground ! The condition of both safety and power is obe- 
dience to God's perfect will. We have reason to fear self- 
injury far more than injury from our foes. He who was 
ready to drink the cup could have had for the asking "more 
than twelve legions of angels." 

Let us adoringly remember that the cup which the Saviour 
was to drink was the full cup of atoning anguish. Yet the 
fact that it was presented by the Fathers hand gave absolute 
assurance it was to become the cup of blessing ! God never 
lets the final victory go against either himself or his. We 
miss triumphs for both the kingdom and ourselves because 
we are not willing to endure suffering. Redeemed by love's 
agony, we yet shrink from whatever will cost us pain. Saving 
oar life, we lose it ! 



If thou the cup of pain 

Givest to drink, 
Let not the trembling lip 

From the draught shrink ; 
So by our woes to be 
Nearer, O God, to thee, 

Nearer to thee ! 

W. W. How. 



September ii. 



3Snto gou it ts gtbm . ♦ . to suffer for fits sake, 
Phil. i. 29. 

These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is 
alive ; I knozv thy ivorks, and tribulation, and poverty [but thou art 
rich). . . . Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer : . . . 
he thou faithful unto death y and I will give thee a crown of life. 
— Rev. ii. 8, 9, 10. 

NOT one of the " seven churches in Asia " received so 
high a commendation from ''the faithful and true 
witness " as that in Smyrna ; yet in outward condition hers 
was the severest lot. Hers to suffer rather than to serve; 
to endure rather than to conquer; to have "tribulations" 
rather than triumphs. Again and again was she swept over 
by the fires of persecution, yet they did not consume her. 

How full of strength and cheer these words to such a 
church ! The assurance of a reigning Lord, having all 
power over death and hell, "the first and the last," "that 
was dead and is alive again." " No weapon that is formed 
against her shall prosper." After trial she shall come forth 
victorious. Her light shines to-day! Are you called, dear 
child of God, to trial, to disappointment, to sorrow, to see 
others reaping while you are laid aside? Remember, "they 
also serve who only stand and wait," that the highest praise 
fell to Smyrna, and through tribulations patiently endured. 



Never flinched they from the flame, 

From the torture never ; 
Vain the foeman's sharpest aim, 

Satan's best endeavor. 
For by faith they saw the land 

Decked in all its glory, 
Where triumphant now they stand, 

With the victor's story. 




J. NEALE (Translation). 



September 12. 



fjafo purified gout souls tit obegmg tfje tnttfj* 



Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word is truth. — John 
xvii. 17. 

AS our blessed Lord was himself " set apart and sent into 
the world " on a special divine mission, it is not 
strange that he should pray for his apostles that they might 
be sanctified, — set apart by God the Father to their divine 
work. They were to possess and proclaim the gospel in its 
fulness. Neither doctrinal nor preceptive truths must be 
overlooked : they must be impressed with the authority of 
their calling and the sublimity of their work. 

All sincere believers are called to a divine service. Our 
Lord's prayer includes them. Every Christian should be 
a living gospel and the propagator of spiritual truth. The 
growth of spiritual life and the steady increase of spiritual 
power depend upon our belief in and appropriation of the 
W ord of God. We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit through 
belief of and obedience to the truth. Our sanctification 
must mean both purity of character and enlightened devotion 
to Christ's work. Our blessed Lord must be our ideal as to 
the one and our example as to the other. Rightly appre- 
hending the " truth as it is in Jesus," we must cheerfully 
make it known to others. Let the warm, vital life of godli- 
ness be manifest in our conduct. While in thought we 
mount heavenward, in deed we should go about in angelic 
labors. 



I need a cleansing change within, 
My life must once again begin. 
New hope I need, and youth renewed, 
And more than human fortitude ; 
New faith, new love, and strength to cast 
Away the fetters of the the past. 



1 Peter i. 22. 




Hartly Coleridge. 



September 13. 



gout goutiness te as a morning cloittu — Hosea vi. 4. 

Z?&/ ^ that receiveth the seed into stony places, the same is he that 
heareth the word, and anojt with joy receiveth it ; yet hath he not 
root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or 
persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 
— Matt. xiii. 20, 21. 

IN religion, as in agriculture, everything depends upon 
the thoroughness with which initial processes are con- 
ducted. In opening the way for the reception of the gospel, 
the ploughshare of the Spirit must be permitted to go deep 
enough not only to stir the thin soil of emotion which lies 
upon the surface of the "evil heart of unbelief" that is by 
nature in us all, but to upturn and remove the underlying 
rock itself. Only thus will the good seed of the kingdom 
find its way into that deep subsoil where the conditions of 
permanent vitality and fruitful development can be found. 
No mere surface-work will do here; nothing but such a 
radical regeneration as shall " take away the heart of stone 
out of the flesh," — such as shall make old things to pass 
away and all things to become new. Emotions are transient ; 
only principles abide. A religion that flourishes in times of 
revival in the Church, and withers as soon as they are gone, 
is a miserable cheat. The sooner it is detected and re- 
nounced, the better for the soul. 

Dear Lord, and shall we ever live 

At this poor dying rate, 
Our love so faint, so cold to thee, 

And thine to us so great ? 

Watts. 



September 14. 



pfc tfjat fjatfj pttg upon tje pant Unirtlj unto fyz iUrti, 



Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 07ie of the 
least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. — Matt. xxv. 40. 

HOW little we know of what we are and have and do ! 
Faith itself does not remove all blindness to the re- 
alities of God's kingdom. Burning though be our zeal, and 
unremitting our work, the veil is still before our eyes, and 
we cannot conceive of the glory of our calling. Prompted 
by the love of Christ, we seek to remove misery, but with 
our Bibles in our hands and hearts, in which these words are 
so clearly written, forget that all the time it is really the 
Lord, and not merely suffering men. whom we have cherished 
and comforted. 

How constant, too, the opportunity for such service! "The 
least of these my brethren : " that is. the very lowest in knowl- 
edge, honor, influence, holiness of life. Though full of faults, 
he is still a brother in whom Christ dwells, and through 
whom Christ comes. 

Homer tells of Ulysses dwelling for a time unknown in 
his Ithaca, a beggar, abused, insulted, struck by some of 
his people but kindly treated by others, until the hour when 
all had been tested came, and the dishonored beggar was 
found to be the absent lord. The King is here, and this 
very day he walks our streets and enters our homes. Happy 
they who even though they do not recognize him. give him 
the sympathy of their hearts, and freely administer of what- 
ever they have. 



Prov. xix. 17. 




Oh, may our sympathizing breasts 
The generous pleasure know 

Kindly to share in others' joy, 
And weep for others' woe ! 



Philip Doddridge. 



September 15. 



Brfjolfc, to ofjeg is tetter tfjan sacrifice, — 1 Sam. xv. 22. 

My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his 
work. — John iv. 34. 

HUNGRY, thirsty, and weary. Jesus comes at noon-day 
to the well of Samaria. He finds rest in labor, drink 
in holy converse, and food in bringing a lost soul to God. 

Not only do physical conditions affect the spiritual life, 
but in a larger degree than we are wont to imagine, spiritual 
conditions affect the physical life. Bodily ailments depress 
the spirit: spiritual exercise invigorates the body. The 
entire man, body and soul, feels the refreshing and stimu- 
lating influence of close companionship with God in will and 
work. The servant of God forgets his bodily wants in the 
joy of becoming the channel through which God flows into 
other lives. 

These words are not spoken concerning a purely personal, 
unrelated experience. Jesus does not find his food, in this 
instance at least, in contemplation or self-inspection. He 
does God's will and accomplishes God's work, with a sinful 
woman as the object in which his activity centres. It is not 
enough that we know God's will. The blessed truths of reve- 
lation will not be food to us except as we assimilate those 
truths by our activity. The soul has its laws of develop- 
ment and growth. One of the chief of these laws, the law 
of labor, is given divine emphasis in the words before us. 




Help us through good report and ill 

Our daily cross to bear, 
Like thee to do our Father's will, 

Our brother's grief to share. 

John* h. Gurxey. 



September 16. 



Etyxttoxz gfjall tfjeg eat of tfje fruit of fyzix afcm Snag* 

Prov. i. 31. 

/ am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me 
should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and 
believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to 
save the world. — John xii. 46, 47. 

DARKNESS is just the word for both the present and 
the future without Christ. Light is the word to de- 
scribe what he does for us when we come to him. " He is 
the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world." He lights up life's path with an example of what 
man should be and do. His is the light which reveals the way 
of salvation. Till we come to him, we see our sins as scar- 
let and as crimson; when we have come to him they become 
white as snow, for " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans- 
eth us from all sin." He lights up heaven, and tells us that 
there God shall wipe away all tears. He lights up earth by 
telling us that all power is given him in heaven and on earth, 
and that he will be with us to the end. Are trials many and 
severe? Do not forget the light which comes from Geth- 
semane, the judgment hall, the cross. He not only taught 
patience and forgiveness, he was patient, he forgave. Re- 
member that he came not to judge, but to save. m It is not his 
wrath, but our unbelief, which condemns us. 




Jesus, my hope, my rock, my shield, 

Whose precious blood was shed for me ! 

Into thy hands my soul I yield ; 
I come to thee. 

Charlotte Elliott. 



September 17, 



3Lzt us not lobe m foort, nntfjtr in tongue; but m 
beeti ant in trutlj, — 1 John Hi. i& 



IT is Jesus who asks this. It was asked of one who could 
supply the physical need. It was comparatively a little 
thing for which he asked, but the woman of Samaria found 
that he who thus asked could give the water of life, which 
would quench the thirst of the soul. 

Jesus asks still, " Give me to drink," and though we may 
not be able to quench the physical thirst of the Son of man, 
we may minister to him by ministering in his name to others, 
for we have his own word, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one 
of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." 

The request is one to which every one can accede. Xot 
in the largeness of the gift lies its value, but in the spirit 
which prompts it. The cup of water only, if given for 
Christ's sake and for very love to him, he will always regard 
as for himself. 

There are wearied, burdened, bruised, and sorrowing ones 
of earth to whom we can minister, there are thirsting ones to 
whom we can bring the " cup of salvation ; " and they who 
thus give Jesus to drink shall from him receive the "gift of 
God," even the living water which springeth up into ever- 
lasting life." 



Give me to drink. — John iv. 7. 




May each child of thine be willing, 
Willing both in hand and heart, 

Every law of love fulfilling, 
Every comfort to impart ! 



Godfrey Thring. 



September 18. 



© genii out tfjg Itgfjt ani tfjg trtttfj : let tfjem Ieati me* 

Psalm xliii. 3. 

zj the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and 
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. — 
John iii. 19. 

CHRIST, who is at once the Son of God and the Son of 
man, uttered a truth whose sublimity stands without a 
parallel, when he said, " I am the light of the world." Light 
and life, like grace and truth, came by Jesus Christ, the true 
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 
" All other lights lead but to bewilder and dazzle but to blind." 
But in his light we see light revealing at once the exceed- 
ing sinfulness of sin and the infinite beauty of holiness, the 
deepening darkness of the path that leads away from God, 
and the growing brightness of the way that brings us back to 
our Father's house. The mischief and the misery of unbe- 
lief is that in its love of darkness and its hatred of light, in 
its rejection of Christ and its retention of sin, the soul is led 
to refuse that which above all else it needs the most, and to 
cling to that which multiplies its sorrows and hastens its 
ruin. With a yearning tenderness like unto that with which 
a grieved yet loving father laments the folly of a wayward 
child, the dear Lord addresses the sons and daughters of un- 
belief, whose unwise choice is the fruitage of their evil deeds, 
and tells them that impenitence writes its own condemnation, 
invites its own sentence, and aggravates its own eternal 
doom. 




Lord, I believe ; thy power I own, 

Thy word I would obey. 
I wander comfortless and lone, 

When from thy truth I stray. 

J. R, WREFORD. 



September 19. 



p^arta tultgnttlg unto me, ani eat ge tfjat fofjtcfj is 

gOOtJ* — Isaiah lv. i. 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from 
heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For 
the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth 
life unto the world. — John vi. 32, 33. 

THERE is a difference in the gifts from heaven. Some 
obtain physical blessings and seek no more. " Your 
fathers did eat manna and are dead." Some seek the hidden 
manna, and receiving the true " gift of God " never die, for 
they feed on Christ. 

" Moses gave not, no man gives, the bread from heaven." 
Praise not men because they are God's agents, but give God 
the glory. Seek not inspiration from man, but drink from the 
fountain-head. Moses. David, Paul, the noblest men dead or 
living, are as nothing to the Bread, the Word, which came 
down from heaven. Go to Christ, follow, lean upon him ; let 
no man come between you and your Master. 

" The Father giveth you.'' Does he ? He stands offer- 
ing; have you accepted the food? His hand is stretched 
out ; have you grasped it ? 



Very bread, good Shepherd, tend us ; 
Jesus, of thy love befriend us ; 
Thou refresh us, thou defend us, 
Thine eternal goodness send us 
In the land of life to see. 
Thou, who all things canst and knowest, 
Who on earth such food bestowest, 
Grant us with thy saints, though lowest, 
Where the heavenly feast thou showest, 
Fellow heirs and guests to be. 




H. W. Baker. 



September 20. 



Wfyzn 3esus toas glortfiei, tfjm remEtnferrti tjjcg. 

John xii. 16. 

Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will 
send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things 
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. — John 
xiv. 26. 

HOW imperfect is our apprehension of things heavenly, 
and how defective our recollection of them ! Poor 
scholars are we in God's school, with our slow learning and 
quick forgetting, if left to ourselves. Most precious then is 
our Lord's assurance of the help of the Holy Spirit, so that 
we shall not fail to attain and retain that knowledge of his 
teachings which is vital to the welfare and peace of our souls, 
and which enthrones him in our hearts. 

How cheering also the thought of the completeness of the 
Spirit's teaching, — covering the " all things " of Christ, as 
twice declared in this one verse. So large is his love for us 
that he can never be content with anything small in his treat- 
ment of us. Thus taught by the Holy Ghost, we shall choose 
truth rather than error, and ever delight therein. Having 
clearly and constantly in mind our loving Saviour, we shall 
learn consolation in sorrow, patience under suffering, courage 
amid conflict, and fidelity in love and service, even unto 
death. And so shall this adorable Holy One be unto us in- 
deed "the Comforter." 




Remember that a world unseen 

Is round thee everywhere ; 
That he alone is truly blest 

Whom God hath in his care ; 
Whom his good Spirit, by his might, 
Is leading in a pathway bright. 

Brameld. 



September 21. 



2£berg one of us sfjall gtfo account of {jtmsclf to (Soti. 

Romans xiv. 12. 

cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer ^darkness : there 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. — Matt. xxv. 30. 

THE "unprofitable servant" did not meet his fearful 
doom through accident, sudden temptation, necessity, 
or lack of knowledge. He admits he knew the character 
of his lord and what would be the natural result of his own 
negligence. And now our loving Master holds this picture 
before our eyes that we may escape that servant's doom. 
This closing sentence is one of the beacon lights kindled by 
the hand of love, to warn men against the infatuation of sin 
that pushes them on to ruin. Love divine stands before 
men to-day who "know their Lord's will and do it not," 
seeking their salvation. It will woo or warn, draw or drive, 
inspire hope or waken dread, promise peace to the troubled 
or sting a torpid conscience into life, speak in " the still 
small voice " or thunder in the storm, and while pointing 
the weary to the rest in heaven, it will dare to tell the care- 
less of the horrors of hell. 




See the Judge, our nature wearing, 

Clothed in majesty divine ! 
You who long for his appearing, 

Then shall say, " This God is mine ! " 
Gracious Saviour, 

Own me in that day for thine ! 

John Newton. 



September 22. 



3More honour t& Jjutmlitg. — Prov. xv. 33. 

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased ; and he that 
shall humble himself shall be exalted. — Matt, xxiii. 12. 

'T S HIS is one of the favorite sayings of our blessed Lord. 



1 It teaches that exaltation through humility is the law 
of spiritual life. The life of Christ is an exemplification of 
this great principle. Saint Paul writes, " He humbled him- 
self and became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given 
him a name which is above every name." Humility is the 
right estimate of ourselves ; it is the ascendency of truth in 
the soul. Consequently, all spiritual life must have its be- 
ginnings in humility. 

Though the believer may be almost overwhelmed on 
account of his littleness and unworthiness standing in 
the searching sight of the eternal Light, yet humility is 
consistent with the loftiest aspirations and the highest 
achievements. 

The humble find forgiveness and peace through the cross, 
and discover surpassing sources of life and exaltation in 
the fatherhood of God, in the brotherhood of Jesus, in the 
indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Through humility the soul 
is emptied of self and filled with the divine fulness, and so 
he that humbleth himself is exalted. 



Thy home is with the humble, Lord ! 

The simple are the blest. 
Thy lodging is in childlike hearts, 

Thou makest there thy rest. 

Dear Comforter ! eternal Dove ! 

If thou wilt stay with me, 
Of lowly thoughts and simple ways 

I '11 build a house for thee. 





Faber. 



September 23. 



&§t iLortf f)atf) anomtrti me . ♦ ♦ to proclaim Itrjertg to 
tf)£ capttbes. — Isaiah lxi, i. 

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom 
Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond 
on the sabbath day? — LUKE xiii. 16. 

CHRIST healed this woman on the Sabbath day and in 
the synagogue. The ruler of the synagogue became 
indignant, as if Christ had committed some heinous sin. The 
miracle of Christ and his mercy to this poor woman were 
nothing to this Pharisee compared to a custom or ordinance. 
Christ appeals to a custom or common practice among the 
Jews, of watering their cattle upon the Sabbath day. and 
applies this act of mercy to the greater need of this woman. 

She was {i a daughter of Abraham," their sister, — a rela- 
tion which they should recognize as not belonging to the 
cattle. Why not be as merciful to her as to a beast? It is 
so to-day. Cattle can rest on the Sabbath, but servants 
must work. 

She was "bound by Satan; " hence this miracle was more 
than an act of mercy to the woman. It was piety toward 
God, as it broke the power of Satan. She had been in this 
deplorable condition for eighteen years ; why delay a single 
day longer, and add to her misery? Xow is the great 
opportunity. 

Christ spent his Sabbaths in the synagogues, and thus gave 
his testimony to the duty and importance of public worship ; 
and he healed on the Sabbath day, teaching us that acts of 
mercy and charity belong to the Sabbath and to the true 
worshipper. 




And didst thou pity mortal woe, 

And sight and health restore ? 
Then pity, Lord, and save my soul 

Which needs thy pity more. 

Mrs. Amelia Wakeford. 



September 24. 



2te our SLorti 3zm& Cjjttgt fjatij ^Tjefaet* me. 

2 Peter i. 14. 

Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shall follow 
me afterwards. — John xiii. 36. 

THE Master was ending his mission and passing to the 
grave. The disciple could not foresee the path through 
suffering and death to glory, and asking " whither " his Lord 
was going, desired to follow. The nature and extent of fol- 
lowing Christ require tuition and experience, which alone 
fortify us with grace and strength to follow him closely in 
the full spirit and conditions of his life. Peter thought he 
was ready to do this at once ; the Lord said, " Not now, but 
afterwards." Dearly, richly learned he what that meant, 
when he wrote, " Christ suffered for us, leaving an example 
that we should follow his steps ; that we being dead to sin, 
should live unto righteousness." 

"Not now;" the path of vicarious suffering Christ must 
tread alone. We cannot follow him there. 

" Afterwards ; " since his bleeding, blessed feet have 
passed up to the crown heights of God, we may and must 
follow, not asking " whither," or halting before the presence 
of suffering, or blanched by fear of enemies, but counting it 
joy to suffer in his behalf; through good or through evil re- 
port, to plant our feet in his own footprints, let them lead 
us where they will. 

Once his disciple, ever " afterwards " follow in life, in 
death; then "afterwards " in the paths of glory, you shall 
"follow the Lamb whithersoever he leads." 




Thy way, not mine, O Lord, 

However dark it be ! 
Lead me by thine own hand ; 

Choose out the path for me. 

H. BONAR. 



September 25. 



JSrfjctl), tijc ilaru (Soti in ill came: . . . fjfe urnatt) ts 
fottfj fjhtt, — Isaiah xl. 10. 

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord wken he cometh shall 
fi)id watching: verily I say unto you y that he shall gird himself, and 
make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. — 
Luke xii. 37. 

OUR Lord here emphasizes the importance of an un- 
broken, progressive life of obedience to the end. He 
gives notice that such life is the true and decisive test of 
loyalty to him. He impliedly says to all his servants. Hav- 
ing engaged with me. I assign you to life service. I make 
no provision for leave of absence. I grant no vacations : 
but I give assurance of profits to all who serve faithfully, — 
profits more than equivalent for the service rendered. 

Absent for an indefinite period, the Lord puts his servants 
in charge of his house with instructions to continue the work 
commenced and guard circumspectly ah his interests till he 
return. 

The day of his return he does not reveal, but his servants 
are assured that he will come ; that when he comes their 
service shall end and their profits be realized. Then to each 
servant whom he finds "watching" — with house in order, 
with lamp burning, and with hand on the door ready to open 
to him — he will say. "Well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant:" go now to my table and I will serve you; "enter" 
now into the joy of thy Lord." 




We long to hear thy voice, 
To see thee face to face; 

To share thy crown and glory then, 
As now we share thy grace. 



H. BONAR. 



September 26. 



Smitten of ani affltcteti. — Isaiah liii. 4. 

My God, my God, why hast thou forsake7i me ? — Matt, xxvii. 46. 



O The spotless Son of God passing into the hidings of 
his Father's face, experiencing that sickening sense of utter 
desolation, forsaken of God and man ; and this that he 
might know sin's utmost ruin, that man might know love's 
utmost salvation. Herein is love, not that we loved him, 
but that he loved us and gave himself for us. He took 
upon his broad sympathies the burden of a fallen world's 
sins and sorrows, hiding his Father's face, darkening the 
heavens, and rolled it off with a bloody sweat and an ex- 
piring groan, that guilty man might be saved both the one 
and the other. He took man's place in the darkness of sin 
and death that man might take his place in the light of holi- 
ness and life. He was abandoned of God that man might 
be accepted. He went down to hell that man might ascend 
to heaven. The philosophy is hidden, the fact is revealed. 
And thank God the fact is all we need to know for cur 
present peace or future welfare. Let us, therefore, grate- 
fully accept the fact that " Him who knew no sin he made 
to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteous- 
ness of God in him." 



Weary sinner, keep thine eyes 

On the atoning sacrifice. 

There the incarnate Deity 

Numbered with transgressors see; 

There his Father's absence mourns, 

Nailed, and bruised, and crowned with thorns. 




saddest words ever uttered. 




TOPLADY. 



September 27. 



%z gfjall fjabe juigntmt bntfjout mercg, ti)at fjatfj isfjetoeii 

no metcg, — James ii. 13. 

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till 
he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my 
heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not 
every one his brother their trespasses. — Matt, xviii. 34, 35. 

THE merciful man shows mercy, not in the hope of receiv- 
ing mercy, but because mercy is an element inwrought 
into the fibres of his moral being. The gospel regards the 
acts of the life as evidential of the state of the heart. The 
unmerciful servant was " delivered to the tormentors until he 
should pay all that was due," not simply on account of a 
single heartless act, but because that act was the evidence of 
his possession of an unmerciful disposition. With the infallible 
Judge it is the state of the heart which secures acquittal or 
condemnation. Disciples of Christ therefore need to ex- 
amine their hearts to know of what spirit they are. Further, 
their lives should clearly show that they have practically 
learned the lessons taught them in the application of this 
parable. These are, — that the mercy sinners receive from 
God should evidence itself in acts of mercy toward their 
fellow-creatures ; that a life lacking in mercy is proof of the 
falsity of a profession of religion ; that they who seek for- 
giveness from God must be willing to forgive men ; and that 
the prayer of the unmerciful is vanity and their condemnation 
a certainty. The gospel requires not only that men " do 
justly," but also that they "love mercy." 




Oh, give us hearts to love like thee ! 

Like thee, O Lord, to grieve 
Far more for others' sins, than all 

The wrongs that we receive. < 



Sir e. DENNY. 



September 28. 



JcIIotocrs of ©oft, a* tieat djfltaeiu — Eph. v. 1. 

luhen ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any : 
that your Father also which is i7i heaven may forgive you your tres- 
passes. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in 
heaven forgive your trespasses. — Mark xi. 25, 26. 

IT is easy to forgive, when we know ourselves forgiven for 
Jesus' sake. Whatever our posture in prayer, we must 
confess that we owe our Lord more than ten thousand talents, 
and have nothing to pay. Freely forgiven, because of the 
divine compassion, and the redemption purchased by Christ 
applied to us by his Holy Spirit, we have neither hand nor 
heart to take by the throat our fellow-servant, who owes us 
an hundred pence. 

And yet we are not forgiven because we forgive those who 
trespass against us. We are taught to pray, " Forgive us our 
debts as we forgive our debtors." But the rule of forgiving 
and being forgiven is in these words of the Holy Spirit : " Be 
ye kind one to another, forgiving one another, even as God, 
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you " (Eph. iv. 32). 

Is there a limit to forgiveness ? Yes, even to God's (Mark 
iii. 29). 

And to ours? Yes, again (Matt, xviii. 15-17, 21, 22, and 
Luke xvii. 3, 4). 

Yet we are to love our enemies, who will not let us forgive 
them (Matt. v. 44, 45). 




Think gently of the erring one ! 

And let us not forget, 
However darkly stained by sin, 

He is our brother yet. 

Fletcher, 



September 29. 



3H)e onlg begotten &<m . . . fje fjatfj bedareii jjhn. 

John i. 18. 

All things are delivered to me of my Father : and ?io man knoweth 
who the Son is, but the Father ; and who the Father is, hit the Son, 
and he to whom the Son will reveal him. — Luke x. 22. 

WHO is the Father? We know not. He is the focus 
of all that is high and good. 
Who is the Son? We know not; the focus of all that is 
divine in human history and in the history of each of us. 

What is the relation of the Father and the Son ? Open, 
each to each. 

What is the knowledge here spoken of, — a thing of defi- 
nitions ? No, of consciousness. It is a fellowship with the 
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Through it the love 
wherewith the Father loves the Son is in us, and he is in us. 
It is life eternal. It comes to us through God's command- 
ments, given in love and accepted in simplicity. 

And what is the face which God through the Son turns to 
us ? Sympathy with childlike men ; willingness to declare 
his blessed name ; promise of an infinitude of experience. 



But what to those who find ? ah, this 

Nor tongue nor pen can show ; 
The love of Jesus, what it is, 

None but his loved ones know. 

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (translated by Ed-ward Casivall '), 




September 50. 



3Loru, ebermore gibe us tljts fcreati*— John vi.34. 

/ that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wil- 
derness, and are dead. — John vi. 4S, 49. 

A THOUSAND desires may be refused us. but bread we 
must have. We can do without a thousand things 
which we regard as necessities, and yet live: but deny us 
bread and we die. The need is universal and universally 
confessed, and to supply it the world has become a very 
bee-hive for industry. But Jesus here reminds us that there 
is a bread which we need more than this. — namely, the 
" Bread of life." — which will sustain us when we have done 
eating the bread of earth. Bread sustains and strengthens 
the body ; but Christ sustains and strengthens the soul. Who 
but Christ can sustain us when temptations strong beset us? 
Who but Christ can strengthen us when trials and misfor- 
tunes befall us ? These are the experiences which make us 
cry out. " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words 
of' eternal life." Besides, bread is good : manna must have 
been better, for it fell from heaven: but Jesus is the best 
bread. Even those who ate manna died: but he who eats 
the bread which Jesus gives shall never die. " Lord, ever- 
more give us this bread." 



O Bread to pilgrims given, 

O Food that angels eat, 
O Manna sent from heaven, 

For heaven-born natures meet, 
Give us, for thee lone pining, 

To eat till richly rilled. 
Till, earth's delights resigning, 

Our every wish is stilled. 

THOMAS AQUINAS ( 'translated by Ray Palmer). 



October i. 



2 toltgfjt to tio tf)g Ml, © mg ©otl. — Psalm xl. 8. 

Now is my soul troubled ; and what shall I say ? Father, save me 
from this hour : but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, 
glorify thy name. — John xii. 27, 28. 

THE shadow of the agony in the garden is already falling 
on the spirit of the Son of man. " Son of man" we 
must know him to be, no less than Son of God, or there 
would be no mediation, no at-one-ment, and we should have 
but half a gospel. " This hour " signifies the consummation 
of the infinite sacrifice, both at Gethsemane and Calvary. 
Nowhere is the interior struggle of the cross laid so plainly 
open. The great Sufferer marks and reveals the successive 
steps in the secret working of his sacrificial submission. 
There are two possible prayers. The terrible alternative 
is distinctly before him; he can ask for rescue, exemption, 
comfort, an easy lot. How many of us, in a weaker faith, 
with a feebler vision, do ask these for ourselves, for those 
we love ! That would be the surrender of the Saviour's 
mission for mankind to self; that is in its degree our con- 
stant temptation. No. " For this cause came I unto this 
hour." Self must be surrendered to God for redemption's 
sake, for man's sake. Two precious lights, then, shine out 
of the text, — the glory of self-sacrifice and the intense hu- 
manity of our Lord. 




" I know, " is all the Sufferer saith, — 
" Knowledge by suffering entereth, 
And life is perfected by death." mrs. browning. 



October 2. 



iLrt not tfjme Jjeatt it Ijastg to utter ang tfjmg More 

(SfcrtJ, — Eccl. v. 2. 



///cj s£d// heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like 
ujito them : fen- your Father kneweth what things ye have need of 
before ye ask hi?n. — Matt. vi. 6, 7, 8. 

T)RA.YER enters into the very idea of religion. Genuine 



prayer is at once most simple and most difficult. To 
have ease and joy in it is a mark of spiritual soundness and 
growth ; to neglect it is a sure symptom of decline. Prayer 
has two aspects, worship and petition. In the one it termi- 
nates on God. in the other on man. In this passage our 
Lord treats of it in relation to God. Among the religion- 
ists of that day the prevailing motive was the love of man's 
applause rather than the desire of God's approval. Alms 
must be done where men can see. fasting paraded before 
the public gaze, and prayer offered loud and long in the 
synagogues and at the crossings of the streets, where men 
"most do congregate." Against this vice in prayer Jesus 
warns us. Have a place where you may be alone with God. a 
time when you have an engagement to meet him. and in this 
privacy, "where none but God can hear." let the soul pour 
itself o'ut in praise and penitence and petition. 



But thou, when tho 
hast shut thy door, p 
Pat her which seeth i?i 
pray, use ?iot vai?i rep 



'Hons, as the 



'to thy closet, and when thou 
which is in secret ; and thy 
i thee openly. But when ye 
liken do: for they think that 





O thou by whom we come to God, 
The life, the truth, the way, 

The path of prayer thyself hast trod ! 
Lord, teach us how to pray ! 



;. Montsc:.:ery. 



October 3. 



3U&e x% tfje fulfilling of tfje lafa. — Romans xiii. 10. 

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — 
Matt. xxii. 40. 

IN this wonderful statement our Lord declares a great prin- 
ciple, — namely, " that love is the basis of all duty," — the 
first and great commandment being, " thou shalt love," and 
the second being like unto it, " thou shalt love." And as in 
the Sinaitic tables the first commands relate to God and the 
rest to mutual duties among men, so here the first is " thou 
shalt love God" the second " thou shalt love men" All duty 
to God and man is thus brought into proper relations. Duty 
has thus twofold development. First, it regards God, who as 
supreme is entitled to pre-eminent consideration ; our relations 
to him as our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, involve certain 
corresponding duties of obedience, gratitude, love. These are 
our highest obligations ; they must be first in our thoughts as 
controlling all our conduct. Secondly, duty has its develop- 
ment toward men, — we must love our neighbor as ourselves ; 
that is, as we would have him love us, and as by the teaching 
of the parable of the good Samaritan he makes every man 
our neighbor who needs our help, he gives a practical rule 
as well as a precept for our conduct. We thus have practical 
tests for the interpretation of our religious experiences. " By 
this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love " 
(John xiii. 35). 




That blessed law of thine, 

Jesus, to me impart ; 
The Spirit's law of life divine, 

Oh, write it on my heart ! 

C. Wesley. 



October 4. 



& ti00t foas openeti unto me of tfje SLorfc- — 2 Cor. ii. 12. 

/ z^^iTw //^ works : behold, I have set before thee an open door, 
and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength , and hast 
kept my zvord, and hast not denied my name. — Rev. iii. 8. 

THE church in Philadelphia, the pearl among the seven 
churches, receives the unmixed praise of him who is 
holy and true and powerful. He knows her works as well 
as her words. She is orthodox in conduct as well as in 
creed. She observes both tables of the law, loves God, and 
lets brotherly love continue. Her deeds evidence her faith. 

To such a church the door is always open, — the door of 
gracious opportunity, of blessed usefulness, of ceaseless ac- 
tivity ; and no power can shut it. He who unlocks it with 
the key of David will keep it open. The church enjoys this 
sublime privilege just because she has a little strength. Being 
consciously weak she supplies the condition of power. The 
law of God's kingdom is that humiliation shall precede ex- 
altation, disintegration fruitfulness, oblivion advancement; 
and then God employs the weak things of this world with 
which to confound the mighty. The door stood open because 
she had been obedient and had kept his word, and had not 
denied his name. Fidelity to Christ in word and work is 
the test of loyalty and the condition of blessing. 



Come, labor on ! 
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear ! 
No arm so weak but may do service here ; 
By feeblest agents can our Lord fulfil 

His righteous will. 




hymns from the land of Luther. 



October 5. 



SHjem also fofjtdj sleep m Sestts toil! ©at) bring foitfj 

f}tm.— 1 Thess. iv. 14. 

/ #w ^ resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth 
in me shall never die. Believes t thou this ? — John xi. 25, 26. 

" DY one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
_D sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all 
have sinned.'' "Jesus Christ hath abolished death, and hath 
brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel." 
"He that hath the Son hath life " and can triumphantly say, 
" O grave, where is thy victory ? O death, where is thy 
sting ? " The Psalmist said, " Though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death." A shadow is not substance; 
that shadow indicates light beyond. Dean Alford wrote the 
epitaph upon his tomb in Old Canterbury. It reads thus : 
" The inn of a traveller, on his way to the New Jerusalem." 

God has said, " If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus 
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the 
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies." His Spirit is 
the earnest, confirming his word of promise : " That by two 
immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we 
might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay 
hold upon the hope set before us." And thus we know that 
"when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we 
also appear with him in glory." 




And he, dear Lord, that with thee dies, 
And fleshly passions crucifies, 
In body, like to thine, shall rise : 



Hallelujah ! 



W. COOKE (Translation). 



October 6. 



fflyz root of tjje rigfyteoxts gtetlietfj frutt — Peov. xii. 12. 

//W received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the 
word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth 
forth, some an hundredfold \ some sixty, some thirty. — Matt. xiii. 23. 

" T TEREIN is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
XjL fruit," said Jesus. What a possibility, what an in- 
spiration, that we can enhance the glory of " our Father " ! 
Our hearts leap at the thought. How can this be done ? 
By bearing " leaves," — a professioii of love for him ? No. 
By bearing some fruit? No. "That ye bear much fruit." 
In the abundance of the yield is the joy, the glory, of the 
husbandman. We should therefore aim to be extraordinary, 
" hundredfold " Christians, satisfied with none but the largest 
yield. Our lives should be packed with good deeds. Then 
at harvest-time we can say, " Father, I have glorified thee 
on the earth." This fruitfulness depends upon the condition 
of the heart to receive the seed, the way in which we hear 
the Word. Combining the three versions of this parable, 
we find that the characteristics of a good hearer are, — he 
understandeth the Word ; he receiveth it ; he keepeth it. 
Apprehension of the Word, faith in the Word, obedience 
to the Word, — these three are indispensable to fruitfulness. 
" Take heed, therefore, how ye hear." Meditate, believe, 
obey, " that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 




Then let our hearts obey 

The gospel's glorious sound ; 

And all its fruits from day to day, 
Be in us and abound. 



J. MONTGOMERY. 



October 7. 



Ei)z angel of tfje ilorti encampetlj rotmti about tfjem tljat 
fear ijtm. — Psalm xxxiv. 7. 

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones ; for I say unto 
yon t That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my 
Father which is in heaven. — Matt, xviii. 10. 

LITTLE ones," — the children of God; the saved; the 
heirs of salvation. " In heaven their angels always be- 
hold the face," — here an allusion is had to Oriental monarchs, 
who in their accustomed seclusion received into their pres- 
ence only the favored courtiers of their realm. The seven 
princes of the court of Ahasuerus are said in the Book of 
Esther " to behold the king's face." But the New Testament 
contains a revelation of the kingdom of God on earth, as 
set up by our blessed Lord, and accordingly sets forth the 
agencies by which its affairs are administered and its sub- 
jects are protected. Hence, angels are represented as -'min- 
istering spirits sent forth " to each individual member of 
this spiritual kingdom for his guidance, comfort, and aid 
(Heb. ii. 14). 

I think Christ meant to confirm that vague conception of 
the many of almost every age and clime, that " in heaven," 
the angelic host have an abiding interest in the welfare of 
each child of God on earth, and minister to their wants. 

While Christ's " little ones," in their earth-life, cannot 
approach the celestial throne, their angels do ; therefore 
already they have an interest in heaven. 




The hosts of God encamp around 

The dwellings of the just ; 
Deliverance he affords to all 

Who on his succor trust. 

Tate. 



October 8. 



8Cfje ml of jog for mcttrnhuj. — Isaiah lxi. 3. 



Weep not. — Luke vii. 13. 



HE words were not spoken out of impatience nor with 



1 any tone of rebuke. Jesus knew the depth of her 
anguish, and in anticipation of what he would do for her he 
says, " Weep not." It was a promise of comfort, like that 
given of old : " Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine 
eyes from tears, for they shall come again from the land of 
the enemy." The watcher on the mountain sees the gleam 
of the coming day, while there is only darkness upon those 
in the valley ; and when in disappointment or affliction or 
pain, we hearken to the word of the Lord, we will find in 
it a message of hope and a reason to wait patiently until the 
end of his work shall appear. It was little the bereaved 
mother knew of the purpose of Jesus when he uttered his 
tender appeal ; little did Martha of Bethany know of the 
glory to be revealed because of her sorrow ; and how little 
we know of what Jesus is able to do for us, when we are 
brought to the point where all human helpers are vain ! He 
is pitiful toward us and able to make all our troubles and 
sorrows and sins, opportunities of his grace, as our helper 
and Saviour ; and they who trust in him and wait shall be 
satisfied with his work. Their sorrow shall be turned into 
joy and their lament into the thankful confession, " Thou 
hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." 



O my soul, what means this sadness ? 

Wherefore art thou thus cast down ? 
Let thy griefs be turned to gladness, 

Bid thy restless fears be gone. 
Look to Jesus, 

And rejoice in his dear name. 




John Fawcett. 



October 9. 



&nti became ofiebtent mtct tieatlj. — Phil h. 8. 

O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me : neverthe- 
less, not as I will, but as thou wilt. 

O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I 
drink it, thy will be done. — Matt. xxvi. 39, 42. 

THESE words, noblest of all words in the gospel of love, 
reveal to us the secret of Christ's endurance and sub- 
lime heroism. When the suffering Son of man in the crisis 
of his agony amid the shadows of Gethsemane finds God, 
he is his Father still. For all the night was growing colder, 
darker, and more desolate, and his soul w r as sinking beneath 
the pressure of an unutterable grief, God was his Father 
still! " O my Father!" — the infinitely wise, the infinitely 
holy, the infinitely loving and tender, — the cup which he 
hath given me shall I not drink it? Surely he will send no 
needless sorrow, and he will make every agony the birth- 
pang of an ineffable joy. It must needs be that afflictions 
come, but it is the will of the Father that they shall work 
out for us the far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory ; and we shall be satisfied when at last we see of the 
travail of our soul. Oh, then, " sweet will of God," be done ! 

Friend, hast thou been in the garden with Jesus, and hast 
thou discerned that the rolling clouds which overshadowed 
thee with darkness were but the dust of thy Father's feet ? 
If thou hast, then the cup of sorrow has been to thee a 
cup of blessing; and with the growing conviction of God's 
fatherhood, strength has poured in upon thy soul, till when 
Christ has bidden thee rise, thou hast gone forth with solemn 
gladness in the Master's fellowship, to duty or sacrifice. 

My Jesus, as thou wilt ! Through sorrow, or through joy, 

Oh, may thy will be mine ! Conduct me as thine own, 

Into thy hands of love And help me still to say, 

I would my all resign ; My Lord, thy will be done ! 

MISS J. BORTHWICK {Translation). 



October io. 



©eclating foljat ♦ , . (Soti tjalr forougljt among tjje 
©entiles fig tfjem* — Acts xv. 12. 

/to/ /to/ j-^/ into the world, even so have I also sent them 
into the world. — John xvii. 18. 

THE Christian is not then an anchorite. By his high 
calling in Christ Jesus he is not withdrawn from the 
world, he is sent into the world. And it may startle him a 
little to hear his Master saying that the errand of the disciple 
in this world is the same as that of the Master. But the 
statement could not be stronger; " as," " even so," — the 
parallel is as perfect as language can make it. 

Jesus Christ never forgot that he was one sent. " I came 
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." 
" My meat is to do the will of him that sent me." He says 
the same thing over and over; and he never forgot the nature 
of his errand. 

He came to learn : from the beginning he " increased in 
wisdom " as well as in stature. " Though he was a Son, yet 
learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." 

He came to work : " My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work." 

He came to suffer : "Ought not Christ to have suffered?" 
he asked the bewildered pair on the road to Emmaus. 

He came to save : " The Son of man is come to seek and 
to save that which was lost ; " " I, if I be lifted up, will draw 
all men unto me." 

The servant bears the same commission. " Even so " is 
he sent to learn, to labor, to suffer, to save. 




O Lord and Master of us all, 
Whate'er our name or sign, 



We own thy sway, we hear thy call, 
We test our lives by thine ! j 



John G. Whittier. 



October ii. 



33g tofjom also foe fjafce access. — Romans v. 2. 

Verily, verily , I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. . . . I 
am the door : by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall 
go iii and out, and find pasture. — John x. 7, 9. 

A FOLD has but one door ; so with the kingdom of 
heaven. The earthly shepherd controls the door ; the 
heavenly Shepherd is the door. The earthly shepherd ad- 
mits whom he pleases ; the heavenly Shepherd, — " whoso- 
ever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." But he 
must come while the door is open, for when once the master 
of the house has risen up and has shut to the door, it is too 
late. Even a sheep cannot get in when the door is shut. 
There is no side door, back door, nor little door; there is 
one door only, and that door is Christ. The door is never 
ajar ; it is either open or shut. 

Those that enter the door are safe. They are safe be- 
cause the door is shut. No use to have a door if you never 
shut it. When the morning comes, the door is open ; no 
danger now. The sheep are free to go forth and enjoy the 
green pastures, or lie down beside the still waters. So with 
the believer. This life is the time of danger. He must 
come into the fold, and must come through the door. He 
must come in, — no compulsion about it. Once in, the door 
stands between him and danger. When the morning cometh, 
all danger is forever past. Henceforth the door " shall not 
be shut at all by day, for there is no night there." Then the 
" redeemed shall come forth with songs and everlasting joy," 
and the " Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters." 
The door stands invitingly open ; let us go in. 



Yes ; thou art still the Life, thou art the Way 

The holiest know, — Light, Life, and Way of heaven ; 

And they who dearest hope, and deepest pray, 
Toil by the light, life, way, which thou hast given. 

Theodore Parker. 




October 12. 



(Soli Jjatfj re&ealei tfjrnt xinto us tig tit^ Spirit, 

1 Cor. ii. 10. 

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. — John vii. 17. 

JESUS here reveals the secret of heavenly wisdom. My 
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. My Father 
is my teacher. My method of learning is by rendering to him 
a life of perfect obedience. If you also would learn of him, 
then follow my example. Do his will, prove it by experience, 
and then you will know of the doctrine, whether it be of God 
or not. 

The principle contained herein is one of widest application. 
Our best strength and knowledge come from practice. The 
more we investigate and prove by experience, the more in- 
timate and useful becomes our understanding of them. We 
know the fragrance of a flower by the sense of smelling. 
We know the flavor of a fruit by the sense of tasting. We 
know the faithfulness of earthly friendship by trusting it in 
some emergency. In like manner, if we enter heartily upon 
the doing of God's will, we shall find that as we are exercised 
in it the divinity of its origin will more clearly appear. 

Thus the door of heavenly wisdom is opened in the gospel 
to the humblest as well as the highest. All may attend this 
school. Not a great mind nor the wisdom of this world is 
required. The promise is, — the meek will he guide in 
judgment and teach his way. Let us come then with ready 
mind and contrite heart, to Jesus, who is meek and lowly, and 
he will teach us by his Spirit that we may " stand complete in 
all the will of God." 




Some secret truths, from learned pride concealed, 
To maids alone and children are revealed ; 
What though no credit doubting wits may give, 
The fair and innocent shall still believe. 

POPE. 



October 13. 



2Cfjm srtjall £ fenoto t&ett as also I am ftnofom 



1 Cor. xiii. 12. 



What I do thou knowest not now : but thou shalt know hereafter. 
— John xiii. 7. 

CHRISTIANS should yield implicit obedience and ready 
submission to the will of Christ. God's ways are not 
our ways, but they are the best ways. By faith Abraham 
went out, not knowing whither he went ; but God led him to 
Canaan. Human nature finds it hard to trust. God ? s provi- 
dences are intricate. The web seems tangled, the pattern 
confused ; we see as yet only the wrong side, and the stitches 
seem set at cross purposes. By and by we shall look at it 
from the right side and shall know that every stitch was 
ordered by infinite wisdom controlled by boundless love. 
When we review the experiences of life in the luminous 
brightness of the great hereafter, we shall see that where the 
way seemed darkest, even there God was guiding us most 
tenderly. The reason of every providence will be revealed in 
heaven. Until then we walk by faith, seeing only one step at 
a time, but not in darkness, for Christ always gives light for 
one step. A lantern illumines the whole journey, though it 
shines only a few feet in advance. A familiar hymn says, — 



" It will be all right in the morning." 



The Christian adds, " Yes, and it is all right now." 




In vain the ways of Providence 
With anxious gaze I scan ; 

To find out God by human sense, — 
It is not given to man. 



Thomas MacKellar, 



October 14. 



©Into (Sob tjje 3Lorti Mong tlje issues from toatfj. 

Psalm lxviii. 20. 
GYz^ place : for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. — Matt. ix. 24. 

THREE times during his earth-life Jesus invades death, 
and calls the loved ones back. First it is the only son 
of a widow ; then the only daughter of bereaved parents ; and 
again the only brother of two sisters. What a comment on 
the heart of Christ ! We are never so bewildered in sorrow 
that he will not come to us. None but Jesus can speak com- 
fort to a bereaved heart. His tenderness and love and hope 
are a balm on the wounded spirit. His truth crowns the 
shadow of death with light. There is no deeper sorrow in a 
home than when an only daughter lies dead, — so young, so 
tender, so sweet ; and death so cruel ! Jesus once in the home 
of sorrow, all is changed; dead to us, but to him she " sleep- 
eth." There is calm repose, peaceful slumber, sweet rest, 
certain waking. W T here the loving and mighty Christ comes, 
all sorrow must " give place." Cold philosophy, mournful 
crying, old death must stand aside. Jesus has conquered 
death. He gives us again our loved ones in a higher, holier, 
sweeter, and endless life. His words, <; The maid is not dead 
but sleepeth," in the sorrowing heart commingle ever with 
the sweet assurance from Bethany, " I am the resurrection 
and the life." And this is our hope for ourselves, and for 
those we need so much, and love so well. 




Though we may mourn 

Those in life the dearest, 
They shall return, 

Christ, when thou appearest ! 
Soon shall thy voice 

Comfort those now weeping, 
Bidding rejoice 

All in Jesus sleeping. dayman. 



October 15. 



2Ust • ♦ ♦ £ mgself sljcultJ be a cagtatoag, 

1 Cor. ix. 27. 

//^ # ;#tf/z not iji me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is 

luithered ; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and 
they are burned. — John xv. 6. 

HOW striking is this figure of the vine and its branches ! 
How expressive of that secret but vital union which 
exists betwixt Christ and his people! — a union as real and 
essential as that between the vine and its branches. 

United to Christ, the believer partakes of the nature, power, 
and life of Christ. From him we derive our spiritual life and 
fruitfulness. The Christian graces which adorn and beautify 
our life and character are the fruits of the Christ-life in us, and 
by which the " Father is glorified " and men recognize that we 
are disciples. " Abiding " in Christ, holiness — ; ' the beauty 
of the Lord our God " — will remain " upon us," and we shall 
" still bring forth fruit even in old age." But what a fearful 
doom awaits the unbeliever, the hypocrite, and the apostate ! 

A branch " apart " from the vine, by an inflexible law of 
nature, " withers," is fit only to be " cast forth," " gathered," 
" cast into the fire," and " burned." Such in the very nature 
of things must be the inevitable result of the soul's sepa- 
ration from Christ, who is the source and fountain of all 
spiritual life, hi him is life eternal. Apart from him is 
death everlasting. Beloved reader, seek union with Christ, 
abide in Christ. 




Abide in thee, in that deep love of thine, 
My Jesus, Lord, thou Lamb of God divine ; 
Down, closely down, as living branch with tree, 
I would abide, my Lord, my Christ, in thee. 



J. D. SMITH. 



October 16. 



Sinnk . . . also on tfjc tfjmgs of ctfjcrs. — Phil, ii. 4. 

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him 



HOUGH apart from his original design, yet our Lord 



i_ gives us an apt illustration in this narrative of the help- 
less and wretched condition of all men in their natural state, 
and also of his own gracious interposition in their behalf. 
We have all of us been badly handled by the great adver- 
sary of God and man. We have not only been robbed and 
stripped and wounded and left more than half dead, but we 
have been left altogether " dead in trespasses and sins-" 

Our blessed Lord, he in whom dwelt all the fulness of the 
Godhead, not by chance, but - according to his eternal pur- 
pose." has been pleased to pass this way: and looking upon 
us in our undone state, and knowing that we were entirely 
u without strength." he had compassion upon us and gra- 
ciously interposed between us and eternal death. "He gave 
himself to redeem us from all our iniquity,' 1 bound up our 
broken hearts, poured his healing balm into our bleeding 
wounds, and promised " never to leave nor forsake us." until 
he had brought us to the house of many mansions. 

In view of what Christ has done for us when we were yet 
enemies and rebels against him. we should be constrained to 
•• go and do likewise." even to our bitterest enemy, for Christ's 
sake. So far from confining our compassions and our contri- 
butions, we should ever bear in mind that Christian benevo- 
lence takes in an indefinitely wide sphere. 




Go. and do thou likewise. — Luke 





Thy neighbor ? It is he whom thou 

Hast power to aid and bless. William cutter 



October 17. 



SHfjm fje fe ttwti, Jje srtjall tecetfo tlje crobm of life* 

James i. 12. 

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away : and 
every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
more fruit. — John xv. 2. 

THE fruits of the Spirit are the only evidence of a man's 
being a true Christian. Where there is no fruit there 
is no vital union to Christ. A person may be a Christian in 
name and have a nominal union to Christ, but there will be 
no fruit. Fruit must be seen in holiness of life and char- 
acter. He that is destitute of these is " dead while he 
liveth." 

There are different degrees spoken of, — "fruit," "more 
fruit," and " much fruit." If the Christian only bear "fruit," 
Christ is pleased ; but he desires " more fruit " and " much 
fruit," and hence he often uses the pruning-knife of trial and 
affliction that he may make his children more holy. God 
never intends to do us harm by trial or to make us suffer for 
the sake of suffering, but " for our profit, that we may be 
partakers of his holiness." Am I united to Christ as the 
branch to the vine by a living faith ? Then let me endure 
with patience any pruning, that I may not only bear " more 
fruit " but " much fruit ; " for " herein is my Father glorified, 
that ye bear much fruit." 




Then let me never more repine 

Beneath the chastening stroke, 
And be the willing spirit mine 

To wear the Saviour's yoke. 

Thomas MacKellar. 



October 18. 



£ seek not gour'g, but gott- — 2 Cor. xii. 14. 

Folloiv me, and I will make y on fishers of men. — Matt. iv. 19. 

WHENEVER Christ says, " Follow me," he has in 
view the highest good of men. The call in this 
verse is more than a call to personal discipleship. It meant 
in the case of Andrew and Simon their work for others as 
well as their own personal surrender to him. To follow 
him would inspire them with a new love for men ; to fol- 
low him would make them know something of the divine 
yearning to save men. Theirs would be an intense desire 
to " catch men " for the kingdom of God. One of the re- 
wards of following Christ is the enlargement or exaltation of 
our aim in life. We need not minutely or elaborately define 
the figure which our Lord here uses. The simple truth is 
that the following of him is the condition of our highest 
usefulness. Discipleship makes a man a positive bless- 
ing to the world ; it fills his soul with a grand evangelistic 
purpose. The final commission interprets the first call to 
Simon and Andrew. They were made disciples in order 
that they might go into the world to "make disciples." 

If we would be " fishers of men " we must "follow him " 
in his methods ; and thus both to obtain and to become a 
blessing men must heed the same gracious call, still made 
by the same Lord, — " Follow me." 



A glorious band the chosen few. 

On whom the Spirit came. 
Twelve valiant spirits, their hope they knew, 

And mocked the cross and flame. 
They climbed the dizzy steep to heaven 

Through peril, toil, and pain : 
O God ! to us may grace be given 




To follow in their train ! 



Heber. 



October 19. 



Not tfjat foe lo&rtj (Soli, but tfjat fee Xo&et» us. 

1 John iv. 10. 



Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, — John xv. 16. 

CUSTOM, which is higher than law, makes it impossible 
for a true woman to choose her husband. She must be 
chosen by him. If a king should say to his peasant-bride, 
" You did not choose me. but I chose you," he would pay a 
high tribute to her worth and modesty. He would also del- 
icately suggest the fervor and depth of his own affection. 

The disciples could not have chosen Jesus. They were 
sinners ; he was holy. They were weak; he was almighty. 
They were ignorant; he was omniscient. They were mor- 
tal; he was eternal. They were human; he was divine. 
His choice was a tribute to their worth : true love can 
never choose the unworthy. His choice was the evidence 
of infinite love. True love delights in lavishing liberal gifts 
upon its object ; he gave himself. His choice was their 
exaltation, but his own humiliation ; it was their salvation, 
but his own crucifixion. To die for love's sake is the climax 
of sacrifice. He who dares to die for the friends he has 
chosen, can fitly say to them, " Love one another as I have 
loved you." 



'Tis done, the great transaction 's done; 

I am my Lord's, and he is mine. 
He drew me, and I followed on, 

Charmed to confess the voice divine. 

Philip Doddridge, 




October 20. 



lEfjosflriin: Mkbtxlj tTjat testis is tfjr Cfjrtst is barn cf 
t3ob. — r John v. t. 

Z?ar/ ^ believe on the Son of God? — John ix. 35. 

ALL men believe. Faith is an instinct of human nature, 
a necessity in human life. Therefore the question is 
not. "Dos: thou believe?" bur "Dos: thou believe on the 
Son of God;** — Dost thou acknowledge him us thy Lord, 
and trust him as thy Saviour ? " 

Momentous question, indeed, as addressed to any human 
soul ! — for everything of value turns upon its answer. None 
but this Son of God can solve for any man the mystery of 
his being, or make sure to him his highest destiny. Only to 
the soul that trusts him can he become " wisdom from God. 
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption/' 

There are those in whose loving faith he is enthroned ; 
who know his power to save and sanctify; who rejoice in 
the certainty, the comfort, the beauty, of their Christian 
faith : to whom, both for service and suffering, it is a regen- 
erating force, a steadfast hope, a heavenly inspiration: in 
whom it is the source of such purity of character and peace 
of spirit as are even now the beginning of heaven within 
them. 

Can I say to Jesus Christ to-day. Lord, I believe " ? 

Is my worship of him a proof of my faith ? 



Jesus, I hang upon thy word ; 

I steadfastly believe 
Thou wilt return and claim me, Lord, 

And :: thvself receive. 



October 21. 



Against tfjee, tfjee anlrj, ijafae 5 shxtufc. — Psalm li. 4. 

Afe publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so muck as 
his eyes u?ito heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be mer- 
ciful to me a sinner. — Luke xviii. 13. 

THIS publican, despised and hated of men. now spirit- 
ually convicted, knows, and therefore condemns and 
hates himself. Utterly humbled, he dares only to step over 
the threshold of the temple, because there dwells God, against 
whom he has sinned. He does not presume to look up to 
heaven, because God is there. In agony he smites upon 
his now broken heart, out of which so much sin has come. 
His sense of utmost need no longer lets him be silent. 
Deeply penitent he cries, not for his fancied rights, not 
for some earned reward, but for mercy, unmerited for- 
giveness. Earnestly he cries to God, that God against 
whom he has sinned. He feels that no other can reach his 
desperate case. Twin-born with his penitence is faith, 
appropriating belief in God's ability and willingness to 
save even him. 

" To me, the sinner." He no more mistakes his condition 
than its cause, sin. Not "to me " as a publican, as one 
unfortunate, an unwilling victim of others, but " to me. the 
sinner." This prayer of humble faith earnestly offered by 
a self-condemning, penitent, believing sinner, always has 
been, always will be heard. "He went down to his house, 
justified." 




Behold, we fall before thy face ; 
Our only refuge is thy grace. 
No outward forms can make us clean ; 
The leprosy lies deep within. 



Watts. 



October 22. 



En tfje &jflfoente8g gtfjafl Waters fjreafe out. 

Isaiah xxxv. 6. 

/ Alpha and Omega , the beginning and the end. I will give 
unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. — 
Rev. xxi. 6. 

WE have here a statement, " I will give," etc. ; a fact, 
"it is done." The speaker is (verse 5) "he that 
sat upon the throne," the Omnipotent; here he is "Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the end," the eternal. 

This is therefore a fundamental, spiritual law on the au- 
thority of the Omnipotent and with the witness of the Eter- 
nal. Material laws exist in and with matter as essentials. 
This is an essential law of the spirit universe. Nature, 
with forces always omnipotent in their realm, abhors and 
fills a vacuum. Omnipotence and eternity make a spiritual 
vacuum forever impossible. The soul thirsts ; it is satisfied. 
It cries out for God ; God is its possession ; the want is the 
realization. 

The measure is, " freely ; " the quantity, what Omnipo- 
tence can give; the continuance, while eternity endures. 

When the sinner, like the prodigal, " comes to himself," 
he has fact, not promise only. Jesus says, " Come, for all 
things are ready." In Jesus Christ "the Almighty," " the 
same yesterday, to-day, and forever," the soul, thirsting, is 
forever satisfied ; and whosoever drinks has in him " a 
well of water springing up into everlasting life." 




Here see the bread of life ; see waters flowing 
Forth from the throne of God, pure from above. 

Come to the feast of love ; come ever knowing 
Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove. 

THOMAS MOORE {altered). 



October 23. 



Psalm lxxii. 12. 



Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. 
— Luke xxiii. 43. 

THUS began the fulfilment of the Saviour's prophecy, 
" I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me." Christ crucified was the object upon which the 
malefactor's faith rested. It is an affecting thought that 
the penitent thief was probably at that hour the only human 
being who unwaveringly believed in the power and coming 
of Jesus. Never had his claims and promises seemed so 
preposterous ; never had his cause looked so dark. But 
though all men had forsaken him, this dying sinner antici- 
pated the glorious advent of the dying Saviour and made 
his petition, " Lord, remember me." 

One might almost think that he would want to forget him- 
self and drop from the remembrance of the just and the 
pure. But faith in Christ enables the sinner to forgive 
himself and to say of the man that he was, " It is no longer 
I." The new man within him does not think of hiding 
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, but asks as 
his greatest boon to be held in the memory of a pitiful Lord. 

How kingly is the Saviour's response ! How far it ex- 
ceeds the breadth of the petition! The mercy of Christ 
can reach to the vilest sinner. It can save him in his 
greatest extremity. It can save him completely. From the 
place of his penitence it is not even a day's journey to the 
Paradise of God. 




The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day ; 

And there may I, though vile as he, 
Wash all my sins away. 



COWPER. 



October 24. 



3t$m Cijrtst rufy} ts tfje fattfjfxil ruttnesgu — Rev. i. 5. 

Thou hast said: nevertheless I say tint o you, Hereafter shall ye see 
the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in 
the clouds of heaven. — Matt. xxvi. 64. 

CHRIST spoke the truth with respect to his Messiahship 
and his divine sonship. The apostle Paul calls this 
"witnessing a good confession." He came into the world to 
bear witness to this truth. In his life also he was the Truth. 
His life manifests the eternal realities of the spiritual uni- 
verse, and so he is essentially the king of men. As Christ's 
earthly life manifested God. so will every true, loving dis- 
ciple of Christ manifest the same life, and so be a witness 
for Christ. As a new incarnation, Christ's life is to become 
the life of the world. 

Besides his rule and kingship among men, he will be seen 
hereafter on the right hand of power, exalted in the heavens, 
as the judge of all men. He is now judged by a human tri- 
bunal ; hereafter he will sit in judgment. In these perils 
and indignities of his trial and condemnation, Christ's con- 
sciousness of his own essential glory kept him true to his 
divine purpose. 

After this divine pattern, every true, faithful life will be 
a perpetual witness to the truth, — serene and patient in the 
presence of perils ; counting the sufferings of the present 
not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be 
revealed in us. 




We shall see him in our nature 

Seated on his lofty throne ; 
Loved, adored, by every creature, 

Owned as God, and God alone ! 
There the hosts of shining spirits 

Strike their harps and loudly sing 
To the praise of Jesus' merits, 

To the glory of their King. m. pyper. 



October 25. 



HM]}omzbzx gfjall call upon tfje name of tfje 3Lorb 

gfjall fie SSabrt. — Romans x. 13. 

Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into 
the kingdom of God before you. — Matt. xxi. 31. 

IN this parable our Lord points out two classes of men, — 
manifest sinners and hypocrites. In the first class we 
have the general reply of the unsaved, " I will not." In 
the second class we have the declaration of hypocrites, who 
promise much and do but little. Better not promise at all 
than to promise and not fulfil. All who openly profess the 
religion of Christ, say by that act, " I go." ' I accept of 
Christ and his religion for all there is in it and all there is 
of it, — soul, body, and spirit, — all for Christ. But alas, 
how few comparatively do this ! They say, " I go," but go 
not. Publicans and harlots, the worst of sinners, who have 
all along said, " I will not," will go into the kingdom of God 
before such hypocritical professors. A mere profession of 
Christ's religion will not suffice ; there must be an inward 
conformity to the divine will, and a consecration of the 
whole being to God. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind." It requires all this to be a true follower of Christ. 
All this is implied in the words, "I go, sir." Our Lord 
throws a ray of light upon the pathway of the unsaved. 
Although they have often said, " I will not," yet if they 
turn to God with an honest, sincere heart and say, " I go," 
they will find the door into the kingdom of God wide open. 
" Whosoever will " may enter in. 




Long from thee my footsteps straying, 

Thorny proved the way I trod ; 
Weary come I now, and praying, 

Take me to thy love, my God ! ray palmer. 



October 26. 



Cfje greatest trf tfjese t's rijarttg- — 1 Cor. xiii. 11. 

If ye love me, keep my co??i?na7id?nents. — John xiv. 15. 

GREAT is faith and great is hope, but greater than these 
is love. Faith is mighty even to the moving of moun- 
tains ; it sails the wildest seas ; it can open blind eyes, 
can do many a miracle; it justifies the soul and anticipates 
heaven. Great is faith ; but love is greater. Faith tires 
betimes ; love is unwearied. Faith is not always welcome ; 
love is at home everywhere and travels all the world with- 
out a passport. Faith is now and again a day late. Love 
stayed last at the cross and came first to the sepulchre. 
Faith and hope long for heaven. Love is heaven ; for God 
is love, and when we love we are in heaven. 

Would you get out of a man the best that is in him, the 
appeal must be to love. One may learn geometry, yet may 
not know nor have even so much as heard of Euclid. But 
we cannot rightly accept " these sayings of mine " without 
taking to our hearts him who said them. We cannot sepa- 
rate Christ's precept from Christ's person. " Never man 
spake like this man." As he continues to speak, follow 
him up and presently you will cry, " My Lord and my God ! 
Thou alone hast the words of eternal life ; to whom else 
can we go ? " " Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." " If 
ye love me, keep my commandments," — do my will ; " Be 
doers of the word and not hearers only." Let your deeds 
be your eulogists. More eloquent than words, more effec- 
tive than self-assertion, is the doing of the Master's will, 
prompted out of a heart full of love for the Master and 
deeply imbued with his truth. 



Speak to me by name, O Master ! 

Let me know it is to me ; 
Speak, that I may follow faster 

With a step more firm and free, 
Where the Shepherd leads the flock 

In the shadow of the rock. f. r. havergal. 




October 27, 



5^0 brought me to tfje imqxtetmQ^omt, anil fjts tanner 

obtt me rjaas lobe, — Song of Solomon iL 4. 

With desire I have desired to eat this passover with yon before I 
suffer. — Luke xxii. 15. 

T \ 7*HAT a wealth of love these words reveal ! How they 



discover also the reality and intimacy of our Lord's 
union with his chosen ones ! His love, in this pathetic re- 
newal of tender regard, seems literally to close them in in its 
marvellous fulness. Truly in this last passover they and he 
are one. The intensity of our Lord's desire is seen in the 
scrupulous care he had taken to secure its quiet and uninter- 
rupted enjoyment. Why was this desire to eat with them so 
great? Partly because in the heaviness of his sorrow now 
he yearned for the solace of the disciples' sympathy and com- 
munion of love, just as he did later amid the agonies of Geth- 
semane. He loved his own. and rejoiced in their love for 
him. Partly, also, because he was glad to give these loyal 
ones an unmistakable exhibition of his relation to them as 
their Saviour. He had sadly felt their slowness to under- 
stand his mission in its spiritual meaning. Now he so uses 
the passover memorial, whose significance they know, though 
it will cease with his own death, that they cannot fail to see 
the true meaning of his work; and the symbolism is so clear 
that they can never forget him. Thus he makes the feast 
the fellowship of intelligent love with his sufferings for 
sinners. 

Let us come to his table with like desire for him, and not 
grieve him by any heartless formality or chilling indifference. 
Let us make it the communion of reciprocal yearning. 





This is the hour of banquet and of song ; 

This is the heavenly table spread for me. 
Here let me feast, and feasting still prolong 

The brief, bright hour of fellowship with thee. 



H. BONAR. 



October 28. 



SEfje tmttg of tfje gptttt — Eph. iv. 3. 



Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall 
believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as 
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ojie in 
us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. — John xvii. 
20, 21. 

THE eye of the Saviour runs forward through time to the 
end of the world. It embraces all the Christians of all 
the ages in a single glance. What a foresight ! 

He prays for their unity. It is to be like the oneness of 
the Father and the Son. Christians should be united in 
love, in purpose, and in endeavor. God in redemption is 
the centre of Christian unity, " one in us." " God was in 
Christ reconciling the world unto himself." Christians come 
to unity as they become more and more absorbed in entreat- 
ing men, " Be ye reconciled to God." Christian missions 
are the path to Christian union. Differences otherwise mag- 
nified vanish before pagans in foreign lands or in the pres- 
ence of degraded classes within Christendom. It must be so 
if the world is to believe that God in infinite love sent his 
Son for its salvation. 

It is within my power to fulfil in a measure the prayer of 
my dying Saviour. I can abolish all spirit of party or sect 
in myself. I can make myself one with all Christians of 
whatever name or nation. Let me not fail to offer to Christ 
that desire of his heart. 



Bind thy people, Lord, in union, 

With the sevenfold cord of love ; 
Breathe a spirit of communion 

With the glorious hosts above. 
Let thy work be seen progressing ; 

Bow each heart and bend each knee, 
Till the world, thy truth possessing, 

Celebrates its jubilee. aveling. 




October 29. 



2Hje letter fttlletfj, but tfje spirit gtfcretfj Itfe* — 2C or. iii. 6. 

// is the spirit that quicken eth ; the Jiesh profit eth nothing: the 
words that I speak ztuto yon, they are spirit, and they are life. — 
John vi. 63. 

r I "HIS passage suggests such important distinctions as let- 



1 ter and spirit, form and power, ordinance and grace 
conveyed. As the soul to the body of Adam, the spirit is to 
the letter, the power to the form, and the grace to the ordi- 
nance. Without an appropriating faith in Jesus, the bread 
of God, no good could come of a literal eating of his flesh or 
drinking of his blood. Adam's body was but fashioned clay 
until the Creator breathed upon it. The breathing made 
the moving, living soul, invested with rule among the crea- 
tures. Empty formalism receives rebuke in these words. 
The Church may not usurp the prerogatives of her founder 
and substitute connection with herself for union with her liv- 
ing Head. The spiritual discernment of Christ in his sacra- 
ments makes them means of replenishing to the soul. Apart 
from the washing of regeneration, baptism may signify, but 
it will not convey cleansing to the heart. Void of gracious 
sustenance the supper becomes, where the Lord's body is not 
discerned. In the knowledge of God and his Son Jesus 
Christ standeth our eternal life; but the condition of that 
saving knowledge is supplied in the Spirit's twofold work of 
revelation and illu?nination. The lack of the latter leaves 
the wondrous things in the law unseen, and the Bible forever 
a sealed book. " For we are the circumcision which wor- 
ship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have 
no confidence in the flesh" (Phil. iii. 3). 





God through himself we then shall know, 

If thou within us shine, 
And sound, with all thy saints below, 

The depths of love divine. 



C. WESLEY. 



October 30. 



311 tijt mis of Ujr rartf} sfjall sec tJjr saluation of our 

&tfii< — Isaiah lii. 10. 

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you : atid, lo, I am with you 
alivay, even unto the end of the world. — Matt, xxviii. 1S-20. 

THESE words become his lips who spake them, and his 
alone. They are the climax to which all that went be- 
fore led up. They give to the gospel story its deepest mean- 
ing. They crown it with its highest glory. They declare 
Jesus in power and purpose Saviour of mankind. They con- 
stitute his imperative, perpetual commission to his disciples. 

How comprehensive their content ! — " all power." suffi- 
cient for all undertakings, oppositions, difficulties, delays, and 
triumphs ; - all nations." — not one to be left undiscipled : 
the entire race, redeemed by his blood, to be discipled and 
made one in him; " all the days," — each day and all day, 
till time shall end. 

How vital their connection. — tlie foundation fact his uni- 
versal power j on this fact, the precept, " Go ! " to this pre- 
cept joined, the promise. " Lo. I am with you ! " Power, 
precept promise, all so joined that they cannot be dis- 
severed. Xo power ? then no obedience. Xo obedience ? 
then no presence. Xo presence ? then no power. 

Lord, by thy power make thy people willing, and by thy 
presence give them power to obey thy precept, that so thy 
glory may soon nil the earth ! 




Baptize the nations ; far and nigh 

The triumphs of the cross record ; 
The name of Jesus glorify, 

Till every kindred call him Lord. j. Montgomery. 



October 31. 



Brfjoltl, jje ptageti} ! — Acts ix. il 



/ thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou 
hast hid these things fro7n the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes. Even so, Father : for so it see7?ied good in thy sight, 
— Matt. xi. 25, 26. 

WHAT a graceful yet sublime veil of mystery envel 
ops like a glistering robe the person of the praying 
Saviour ! These communings of the incarnate Son with the 
eternal Father must in some aspects remain inexplicable to 
finite minds. They constitute a part of that central mystery 
of the Trinity which it is not given to man to comprehend. 
God hides even while he reveals. 

And yet how precious are the records of the praying as 
well as the teaching, the acting, the suffering Christ. Four 
times in his intercessions we hear from his lips that tender 
word, Father ! In this instance it stands in what strange 
contrast with the judicial utterance just preceding ! Here also 
the prayer changes into an outburst of thanksgiving such as 
never before or since ascended to the throne where in august 
sovereignty the Father is seated. 

Oh, the sad estate of those from whose eyes the things of 
God, the precious verities of grace, are hidden ! wise and 
prudent in earthly things, they fail to see heavenly things, and 
their loss is utter and everlasting. Oh, the blessedness of 
those who in the simplicity of childhood hear and believe what 
Christ has spoken ! Though babes in the earthly sense, they 
are the true children of the Father and heirs through Christ 
of all the promises. 



Glorified apostles raise, 
Night and day, continual praise. 
Hast thou not a mission too 
For thy children here to do ? 
With the prophets' goodly line 
We in mystic bond combine, — 
For thou hast to babes revealed 
Things that to the wise were sealed. 




Millard (Translation). 



November i. 



@ol3 . ♦ ♦ nofa commantietf] all men e&erg fofjere to repent. 

Acts xvii. 30. 

Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to co7?ie in, 
that my house may be filled. — Luke xiv. 23. 

THE disciple must go to those who need him ; they will 
not come to him. Earth's highways and byways are 
alike filled with the neglected and perishing, and the disciple, 
like his Master, has a special mission to them. " As the 
Father hath sent me into the world, even so send I you." 
Like our blessed Saviour, we too must seek and save the lost. 
We are ever prone to turn to those who have not gone astray, 
but such was not the spirit of the Master. God has in these 
latter days brought all the ends of the earth together, and 
now the earnest worker can go to almost any part of the globe 
without difficulty, and bring in the wanderer and the outcast 
to the royal feast of heaven. With hands of holy violence 
and yet with the voice of love and the touch of gentleness 
we should go after the most needy and neglected ones of earth 
in the assured confidence that God's blessing will follow us, 
and that our labors shall not be in vain. In the great banquet- 
ing house of heaven may it be ours to see some among the 
happy guests who shall have been gathered in by our faithful 
obedience to this command ! 




Come, thirsty souls, and bless the Lord, 
And drink for Jesus' sake ! 

Samuel medley {altered). 



November 2. 



£ Mtefo tfjat Sesus Christ tfje Son of ©ol». 

Acts viii. 37. 

Blessed art thou t Simon Bar-jona : for flesh and blood hath not 
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is i7i heaven. And I say 
also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. — 
Matt. xvi. 17, 18. 

IN these words Christ inaugurates his church and unfolds 
its constitution and destiny. His church is to be hence- 
forth the organized and visible form of God's kingdom in 
the world. Men enter it through a faith and confession 
wrought in them by the Holy Spirit. Simon Bar-jona is 
" blessed,*' and made " Peter " (a rock) by this spiritually 
inwrought faith and confession. 

When he through the Holy Spirit received and confessed 
Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, he laid the 
first stone in that building in which as living stones are 
builded all who, taught by the Spirit, possess the same faith 
and make the same confession. When therefore Christ 
says " On this rock I will build my church "he says his 
church shall be built on this petrine quality, be built on, and 
out of Peters, — on and out of characters and lives such as 
are produced by acceptance and confession of Christ under 
the teaching of the Holy Ghost, of which Peter is a type. 
Thus builded, it will endure unshaken every assault and con- 
quer every foe. " The gates of Hades,'' or all the powers of 
evil, of darkness, and of death, shall not prevail against it. 




Crowns and thrones may perish, Gates of hell can never 

Kingdoms rise and wane, 'Gainst that church prevail ; 

But the church of Jesus We have Christ's own promise, 

Constant will remain. And that cannot fail. 

Baring-Gould. 



November 3. 



Cljrrr foas gtfeen fjtm . . . a kmgtwm, tljat all * * * 
sfjrjtilt) srrbf fjtm : , . . sni Ijis fetngtjam . . * gfjall 
not fjc tirstrngrt* — Daniel vii. 14. 

My kingdom is not of this world : if my kingdom were of this 
world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to 
the fews : but now is my kingdom not f?-o?n hence. — John xviii. 56. 

JESUS was charged with the assumption of an earthly 
kingship by the Jews. On this false accusation he was 
delivered unto'Pilate. Pilate said unto him. "Art thou the 
King of the Jews?" Jesus made no denial, but explained 
in the words of this passage the true nature of his kingdom. 
— a hidden spiritual kingdom. He said. "If my kingdom 
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my king- 
dom not from hence." He aspired to no earthly regal 
power and glory. All he asks is to be enthroned' in the 
hearts and lives of men. — to rule their wills, affections, pas- 
sions, motives, and acts. These are his subjects, and with 
these under his guidance and control, he rules the world. 
With these at his command every individual soul becomes a 
glorious habitation, and every life pure and beautiful to 
behold. 

Dear reader, have you this divine kingdom set up in your 
heart ? If not. then please do now open the door that " the 
King of glory may come in." 



Hasten, Lord, the glorious time 

When, beneath Messiah's sway. 
Every nation, even* clime, 

Shall the gospel call obey! 
Then shall wars and tumults cease ; 

Then be banished grief and pain ; 
Righteousness and joy and peace. 

Undisturbed, shall ever reign. Harriet auber. 




November 4. 



BS&ljat time I am afratti £ totll trust in tfjte* — Psalm ivi. 3. 

It is I ; be not afraid. — John vl 20. 

HOW human for the disciples with minds somewhat 
tinged with the superstitions of their age to be afraid 
of such a marvellous manifestation ! True, Christ was all 
the while surprising them with some new phase of his divin- 
ity and love. Nevertheless, they were fearful, requiring 
frequently some gentle rebuke. — "' Fear not," "Why are 
ye fearful ? " 

Our blessed Lord was more apt and ready to deliver the 
disciples from the perils of their fears than they were to re- 
cognize the form so clear and visible in the dark, as their 
Lord walking upon the boisterous and turbulent waters. 

Fear and doubt cramp the action and chill the life of our 
faith, clouding our sight of Jesus. Thus was it that he was 
so prompt to assure them that what they beheld was not a 
vision of fright and evil, but that it was their best friend. 
" It is I ; be not afraid.*' 

Fear is a treacherous foe of faith. It alarms and weakens 
its subject, making it a more possible prey for the enemy 
without. Jesus would have us to be Christian heroes, 
never surrender to our fears. Certainly he knows how 
hard we toil to make a headway against the resistless forces 
of life. His ever active sympathy and tender love bring 
him to our rescue in the hour of danger. 

If we would realize the more that Jesus is always with us 
in our trials, not only may we hear his still and inspiring 
voice, but also obtain the needed help that makes our bur- 
dens light. In the midst of the tempests of life, Jesus 
comes to fellowship with us. 

Thou who in darkness walking didst appear 
Upon the waves and thy disciples cheer, 
When all is dark may we behold thee nigh, 
And hear thy voice, " Fear not, for it is I " ! 

C. WORDSWORTH. 



November 5. 



^faste tljee, escape tfjttljer* — Gen. xix. 22. 

Enter ye in at the strait gate. — Matt. vii. 13. 

THIS thought should be an incentive to earnest action 
in this probationary life, that it may issue in a joyful 
eternity. The man at the railway-gate sees pleasure beck- 
oning him within as he journeys to his family, and pain 
mocking him without, if like the foolish virgins he hears 
the saddest of words, "too late." The gate is a definite, 
plain entrance, and is shown in mercy by him who said, " I 
am the door." It implies action, for he who would enter 
must move and not debate. He must not be overladen, 
for the young man loved by Christ could not get his large 
burden of worldly goods through the strait passage. The 
narrow defile introduces to the beautiful valley, and the ce- 
lestial city shines before the Christian traveller. The strait 
gate of repentance leads to the wide gate of Paradise. As 
Saint Chrysostom teaches, though the gate is strait, the 
heavenly city is wide. It contains "a great multitude, 
which no man could number " (Rev. vii. 9). Let us with 
Saint Ignatius not desire "even to breathe apart from" 
Christ in self-denial and devotion and holy sacrament, that 
the " gate of death " may bring us to the gate of resurrec- 
tion, to eternal life, and we " may enter in through the gates 
into the city" (Rev. xxii. 14). 

I see not the way before, 

But I go at thy command, 
Entering gladly duty's door, 

Led by thy directing hand. 

THOMAS MACKELLAR. 



November 6. 



3Lrt ebtrg man take fjert ?)0£a fje imtttietfj, — i Cor. iii. 10. 

m?ry one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them 
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon 
the sand: and the rain descended, aiid the floods came, and the 
winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell: and great was 
the fall of it. — Matt. vii. 26, 27. 

AN inverted pyramid is an impossibility. A ship must 
have ballast. A balloon must have a car. In air, on 
water, on land, a good foundation is the most important thing. 

In religion there is but one foundation. " Other founda- 
tion can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ/' 
All others are sand. The silica may sparkle in them, but 
they are sand. Without Christ. God's mercy is sand ; the 
cement of grace is lacking. Without Christ, man's excel- 
lence is sand ; the cement of faith is lacking. 

Every man's foundation will be tested, thoroughly tested. 
''The rain descended." It will be tested by God and by 
the Devil. "The floods came " from the deep. It will be 
tested by men and circumstances. " The winds blew " from 
all quarters, and these all beat upon the house. Whoso 
has built on sand must fall. Is it harsh to call such an one 
foolish ? 

Yes, great will be the fall ! Not a leaning tower of Pisa 
lias fallen, but a man ! Fallen ! — not prone upon the earth, 
but down, down, down into outer darkness. Fallen ! A 
building, every stone and timber and fresco of which was 
instinct with life, is in ruins, yet still lives. 

These verses close the Sermon on the Mount. God grant 
they may not portray the close of your life ! 




My gracious Lord, I own thy right 

To every service I can pay ; 
And call it my supreme delight 

To hear thy dictates and obey. 

Philip Doddridge. 



November 7. 



3Tf}tg ts life eternal, tfjat tf}tg tmgfjt Jmofo tfjee tfje onlg 
true (goi, aniJ 3esus Gtjjttgt, toljum tljou Tjast gent — 

John xvii. 3. 

.^Ov known me, ye should have known my Father also : and 
from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. — John xiv. 7. 

BY the examination of the context of this passage it is 
apparent that these disciples knew many things con- 
cerning Christ; that is. they knew him so far as faith en- 
abled them to know him to be the Son of God, the true 
Messiah, and the Saviour of the world. But this is a tacit 
reproof because they did not know him more fully and 
perfectly as one with the Father, similar in meaning to 
John viii. 19, where in answer to the question, " Where 
is thy Father?" Jesus answered, "Ye neither know me nor 
my Father : if ye had known me, ye should have known 
my Father also." 



The Father is in God the Son, 
And with the Father he is one ; 
In both the Spirit doth abide, 
And with them both is glorified. 

O Father, thou most holy One ! 
O Son of God, eternal Son ! 
O Holy Ghost, thou Love divine, 
To join them both is ever thine ! 

Eternal Father, thee we praise ! 
To thee, O Son, our hymns we raise ! 
O Holy Ghost, we thee adore, 
One miehty God f orevermore ! 

H. W. BAKER, 



November 8. 



£2Efjatsoebn: !j* sattf} unto gnu, tio it — John ii. 5. 

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, 
and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdo?n 
of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach the??i, the sa??ie shall be 
called great in the kingdoi?i of heaven. — Matt. v. 19. 

WHATEVER we do is a lesson. The breaking or 
teaching of a commandment is always a teaching 
of the same. The most trifling and concealed transgres- 
sion declares itself in an evil influence upon others. The 
most insignificant and modest act of obedience instructs 
all and is an impulse to goodness. 

Least and greatest in the kingdom ! How shall we avoid 
falling so low, and how succeed in rising so high ? Give 
heed to the little things. To be unfaithful in the least sinks 
us in spiritual degradation ; to be faithful in the least lifts 
us to crowned eminence before God. 

Oh, these conclusive little things ! We step over them in 
our daily path and drop them on either side, — too trivial 
for notice, Yet they determine character and influence, 
acceptance and rank before God. 

Each command gives opportunity to gain or lose position. 
Where shall be our place, — low down or high up ? That 
depends upon the day's, yea. the moment's, obedience. 
What shall be the reach of our influence, — narrow or wide ? 
That depends upon immediate and constant example. Even 
a little faithfulness wins a large acknowledgment. 




Give me to know thy will, O God ! 

And may I see to-day 
A light from heaven upon my road 

To clearly point the way ! 
That I may know just what to do 

And what to leave undone, 
And be unto thy service true 

From dawn to setting sun. 

Thomas macKellar. 



November 9. 



©faetCOme crjil fottfj goai* — Romans xii. 21. 

Z^'<? your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, a?id pray for them which despitefiilly use you, and persecute 
you ; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : 
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth 
ram on the just and o?i the unjust. — Matt. v. 44, 45. 

JEWISH rabbi and heathen sage had taught alike the 
maxims or love for friends and hatred for enemies. 
But here is a new departure in the field of ethics. — an an- 
nouncement that must have strangely startled the hearers 
of Jesus. How should they, indeed, love an enemy, reward 
bitterness and hate with blessing, or make intercession for 
the defamer and persecutor? But Jesus followed quickly 
with a reason for his tenet, a consideration the highest that 
could be conceived of. They who do these things shall be 
called the children of God. There is no higher character 
ascribed to God than that in which he appears as offering 
forgiveness to offenders. They, then, who cherish this per- 
fect spirit of forgiveness are in the highest and best sense 
like God. and accounted worthy to be named his children. 
To acquire this spirit, to attain this divine likeness and this 
exalted recognition, should demand our best ambition and 
noblest strife. Blessed Saviour, thou Prince among teach- 
ers, mav we sit humbly at thy feet until thou dost teach us 
perfectly this lesson, and dost put into our hearts the spirit 
which enabled thee to pray. " Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do ! n 




Thv foes might hate, despise, revile, 
Thy friends unfaithful prove ; 

Unwearied in forgiveness still, 
Thv heart could onlv love. 



Sir e. Denny. 



November io. 



partakers of Cfjrfet, tf foe fyolti tfje beginning of ottr 
confidence stetifast unto tfje entu— • Heb. in. 14. 

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. — 
Matt. xxiv. 13. 

A WARNING note the Master sounds as he "sits upon 
the Mount of Olives." The love of the majority shall 
cool, therefore "endure." To begin is not to finish ; profes- 
sion is not possession, neither is confession conquest. Ad- 
miration for the character of Christ is far different from 
submitting to the will of Christ. " He endured the cross." 
" And from that time many of his disciples went back and 
walked no more with him." The multitudes who shouted, 
" Hosanna," cried also, " Crucify." The disciple who said, 
"Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee," 
likewise declared, "I do not know the man;" and it was 
"one of the twelve who betrayed him." "Blessed is the 
man that endureth temptation," trial, tribulation, who has 
patience to submit to the command of his Lord, and who 
has perseverance to press forward in the face of difficulty 
and in spite of all opposition. " They starve well," was the 
comment of an old commander on his patient troops. " They 
charge well," was the encomium which a veteran general gave 
to his leal-hearted warriors. To starve, to charge, to be 
patient, to persevere, " to hold fast that which thou hast, 
that no man take thy crown," and " to press toward the 
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ 
Jesus," — this is to endure; "and he that endureth to the 
end, the same shall be saved." 





Ne'er think the victory won, 
Nor lay thine armor down ; 



Thine arduous work will not be done 
Till thou obtain the crown. 



HEATH. 



November ii. 



2f ang man'g foorfe aWfce . . . fje gfjall xztzibz a re&rarlu 

i Cor. iii. 14. 

Behold, I co?ne quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every 
man according as his work shall be. — Rev. xxii. 12. 

THE disciples came to Jesus and asked, " What shall be 
the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ? " 
He replied, Many deceivers and many false prophets shall 
arise, iniquity shall abound, and the love of many wax cold 
before the end comes. And this gospel of the kingdom shall 
be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the 
nations; and then shall the end come. This will be the pre- 
lude to the judgment. Then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of man in heaven. No one will be able to anticipate the time 
of these events, and the appearing of the Lord will be with 
the suddenness and vividness of lightning ; and he will have 
" wages " with him to give to each as his labor merits. It 
will be a day of vengeance to the wicked, but a day of reward 
to the righteous. Note the contrast: "Depart from me, ye 
cursed," and " Enter into the joy of thy Lord." The com- 
ing of the Lord Jesus will be the occasion of the greatest joy 
to his saints. They will behold him coming to be glorified 
in his saints ; they will greet him with unending praises. 
What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy living, 
looking for the coming of the day of God ? Shall we not wait 
with holy longing, ready at any moment when we shall hear 
his voice anew — " Yea, I come quickly " — to cry out, 
" Amen ; come, Lord Jesus " ? 

Haste the day of thy returning 

With thy ransomed church to reign ; 

Then shall end our days of mourning, 
We shall sing with rapture then, 

Thou art worthy ! 
Come, Lord Jesus, come ; Amen! 

J. G. Deck, 



November 12. 



(Site mt tf)fs ruater, tfjat £ tfjtrst twit— John iv. 15. 

/ am the bread of life : he that co7?ieth to me shall never hunger ; 
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. — John vi. 35. 

THIS is one of the " I ams" of Christ, and one which is 
very precious to the believer. Christ is* the source and 
support of spiritual life. As bread is necessary to the body, so 
is Christ essential to the soul. As the grain has to be crushed 
in order to become bread, so Christ's body had to be broken 
and his blood shed on the cross, that he might become the 
bread of life. 

Unless bread is eaten it is useless. In like manner Jesus 
Christ must be partaken of by faith. He who uses this bread 
of life shall never hunger and never thirst. He shall never 
again hunger for this world, as formerly. He has found the 
grand elixir of life, so that even though he passes through 
the valley of Baca, he can make in it a well. He shall not 
hunger and thirst always, but can look forward to a glorious 
time when he shall join the throng " who shall hunger no 
more, neither thirst any more . . . for the Lamb, which is in 
the midst of the throne, shall feed them and shall lead them 
to living fountains of waters." 




Thou, Saviour, art the living bread ; 

Thou wilt my every want supply. 
By thee sustained and cheered and led, 

I '11 press through dangers to the sky. 

Ray palmer 



November 13. 



JHttfj tfje mout|j confession te mobe unto sal&atum. 

Romans x. io. 

Whosoever therefore shall confess vie before men, aim will I also 
confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall 
deny ??ie before i?ien, him will I also deny before my Father which is 
in heaven. — Matt. x. 32, 33. 

HPO confess Christ before men is to make a public ac- 



1 knowledgment of him as the Saviour of the race, but 
especially to express one's acceptance of him as his personal 
Saviour, to espouse actively his cause, to ally one's self with 
the disciples of Christ. He that announces his trust in Jesus 
for forgiveness, who is truly baptized into the name of Christ, 
and partakes of the Lord's Supper, who unites with the Church 
and labors for the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, in all these 
ways confesses Christ. So also a life of obedience, humility, 
piety, godly zeal, which is Christ-like, is a witness for Christ 
and a testimony to his transforming power. Such an one 
will Christ not only formally acknowledge before the Father, 
but give him a glorious share in his heavenly honor. 

To deny Christ is to do the opposite of the above. To do 
this it is not necessary publicly and formally to declare one's 
renunciation of Christ as an infidel might do. but simply 
neglect to confess him in the ways above indicated. If we in 
any such way disown Christ, we are none of his. and it cannot 
but be that he must disown us. 

Let us. then, accept and confess Christ as our Lord and 
Saviour. 





I "m not ashamed to own my Lord. 

Or to defend his cause ; 
Maintain the honor of his Word. 
The glory of his cross. 



Watts. 



November 14. 



HSHjti fjatti begpfeeb tf}t bag of small tfjtngs ? 



Zech. iv. 10. 



Gather tip the fragments that remain, that notlwig be lost. — John 
vi. 12. 

r I *HIS utterance of our Lord is one of the many side-lights 



1 to be found in the gospel narratives. It ushers us 
into the realm of purely temporal things and is nothing more 
than a commonplace order such as any one might find in 
the mouth of an average housewife. This homely injunction 
not to waste even the remains of a dinner is severely prac- 
tical, and forms a sharp contrast to the sublime spiritual 
truths which our Saviour had so recently given his disciples 
on the mountain-top. A great descent, we exclaim, and yet 
what a testimony to the completeness of Christ's character ! 
Unlike the majority of men. our Lord was many-sided. 
He was not so lost in contemplation as to be unmindful 
of the wants of the body. He who discoursed so eloquently 
upon the glories of God's kingdom was not above practising 
the little economies of life and inculcating the importance 
of frugality. Both by precept and example Christ taught 
that wastefulness is sin. Saving may be one of the minor 
virtues perhaps, still, let us remember that the command to 
" gather up the fragments ' ? came from him who was able 
to feed five thousand. The liberal Christian is usually the 
man who has learned this lesson of economy. It is not 
given us to multiply loaves of bread: but where is the man 
who cannot save something and become instrumental in 
sending the bread of life to those who have it not ? 





Scorn not the slightest word or deed, 
Nor deem it void of power ; 

There 's fruit in each wind-wafted seed 
That waits its natal hour. 



Anonymous. 



November 15. 



I tifoell ♦ ♦ ♦ tottfj fjtm also t^at ts of a contrite anti 
fumble gptttt*— Isaiah lvii. 15. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit : for their s is the kingdom of heaven. 
Matt. v. 3. 

THIS is our Lord's protest against the self-satisfied but 
self-deceived righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, 
and against the ethical legalism and self-wrought virtue on 
which so many estimable people base their hope of heaven. 
Christ came not to press upon men a salvation not needed. 
He does not offer " unsearchable riches " to those " who are 
rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing," 
but to the poor in spirit, those who are utterly destitute of 
spiritual resources and have come to know it, and with pro- 
found self-abasement are ready to acknowledge it. They 
have come to themselves as did the starving prodigal ; and 
in this deeply felt consciousness of guilty bankruptcy, their 
real blessedness has its beginning. A little divine light 
begins to shine into their hitherto darkened hearts, and they 
see how poor they are. Oh, how our blessed Lord loves to 
fill an emptied heart ! while one that is already full of sat- 
isfactory riches and resources has no place for him. This 
beatitude necessarily begins the series. It is the first of 
the rising steps which lead to the portal by which we must 
enter the kingdom of heaven. " God resist eth the proud 
but giveth grace unto the humble." 




The heaven where I would stand complete 

My lowly love shall see ; 
And stronger grow the yearning sweet, 

My holy One, for thee. 

T. H. Gill. 



November 16. 



£ sfjall fir satisfied, fofjnt I arnakr, rnttfj tfjg lifeaum 



Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 
perfect. — Matt. v. 48. 

THE child of God must not be content with the pharisaic 
interpretation of the law. Nor must he share the 
publican's conception of his duty of kindness toward his 
fellows. God commendeth his love toward us in that while 
we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God is love, 
and love is the fulfilling of the law. Be like God ; let the 
child reproduce the Father's virtues. The Father's house 
is to be his lasting home. His eternal associations are to 
be with the holy, ever blessed Trinity. The intimate re- 
lations of heaven demand entire sinlessness in all who abide 
there. It would surprise us if God demanded less than 
perfection in those who are to be fellow-heirs with Christ. 
Holiness is your duty and your destiny. It is a distant goal, 
but it will be reached. " I shall be satisfied,'' said the 
Psalmist, " when I awake, with thy likeness.'' Let life's 
day be filled with service toward God and toward man. 
Then let the night of death come. Your awaking shall be 
blessed ; you will see the King in his beauty. 



Psalm xvii. 1 




Holy Lamb, who thee receive, 
Who in thee begin to live, 
Day and night they cry to thee, 
" As thou art, so let us be ! " 



ANNA S. DOBER. 



November 17. 



OSfjatsocbrr fcotfj mafte manifest ts Itg^t — Eph. v. 13. 

/<?r ^zw^/ <?;/^ //W *wiZ hateth the light, neither cometh to the 

light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth 
co7neth to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they 
are wrought in God. — John iii. 20, 21. 

THIS passage of Scripture occurs at the close of Christ's 
conversation with Nicodemus. It contains the two fun- 
damental doctrines of the whole Bible, — sin and salvation. 
The unregenerate man hates the light, shuns the light, fears 
the light. He would have you believe that he can be a Chris- 
tian in his own way, that a public profession is not necessary, 
that the Lord's Supper is not of sufficient importance to re- 
quire his compliance with the dying injunction of the Re- 
deemer. His whole course is in direct opposition to the 
revealed will of God. k * The carnal mind is enmity " against 
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
can be" (Romans viii. 7). The regenerate man is the oppo- 
site of this. He loves the light because God is light, and he 
delights to honor God by a cheerful and willing obedience 
to the divine commands. Whatever good he may do he gives 
God the credit for it. ''In me dwelleth no good thing,'' 
but " I can do all things through Christ."' Reader, this is a 
test by which you can easily find out where you stand : is it 
in the twentieth or twenty-first verse of this wonderful 
chapter ? 




Behold the servant of the Lord ! 

I wait thy guiding hand to feel ; 
To hear and keep thy every word. 

To prove and do thy perfect will ; 
Joyful from my own works to cease, 
Glad to fulfil all righteousness. 

C. Wesley. 



November 18. 



Ef ixc ask ang tljtng accrjrtumj to fjts foill, fje jjcareti) its* 

i John v. 14. 

o£/V& in me, and my words abide i7i you, ye shall ask what ye 
will, and it shall be done unto yon. — John xv. 7. 




ERE we have the conditions of prevailing prayer. 
First, The abiding in Christ. 



O blessed union. — oneness with the Saviour: fulness of 
love and fellowship with him : a relationship never to be 
broken, not even death itself can sever it : one continued life 
in union with divine life, and the same nature unfolded. As 
is the "vine," so is the "branch" with one life-giving" power. 
As is the " body." so is each - member " sustained by one and 
the same element of existence. Thus our body, united to 
Christ's body, is united to Christ's will. - joined unto the Lord 
in one spirit : " and the body being the " temple." we are 
made partakers of his nature. He is " glorified ; ' in us. and 
we are " fashioned " like unto him. 

Second. The abiding word. In this heavenly relationship 
Christ's words are received into believing hearts, without ex- 
ception, and become our words, and shape our lives. So 
that in the abiding with him. and his words abiding in us. 
our will is brought into humble submission to his will, and 
the union will be such a sweet and harmonious one. his Spirit 
inditing the petition, that every request will come to him ac- 
ceptably, and the answer will surely be given. 




My prayer hath power with God ; the grace 

Unspeakable I now receive ; 
Through faith I see thee face to face ; 

I see thee face to face and live ! 
In vain I have not wept and strove ; 
Thy nature and thy name is love. 

C Wesley. 



November 19. 



3Lort fttwfortfj fjofo to Mtte tfje goiilg out at 
temptation* — 2 peter a. 9. 

Because thou hast kept the word of ?ny patience, I also will keep 
thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, 
to try them that dwell upon the earth. — Rev. iii. 10. 

T7AITHFUL adherence to the Word of God, — which is 



r the expression of the divine patience, forbearance, and 
love toward mankind, — exposes the believer to great temp- 
tations. The world, the flesh, and the Devil use their most 
seductive arts to compass his fall ; but here is the assurance 
of sufficient grace. He who says, " I also will keep thee from 
this hour," prayed for Peter the very instant he knew that 
Satan desired to sift him as wheat; and in like manner the 
prayer of our great High-Priest and Intercessor precedes the 
temptations of every saint. 

How comforting to know that our sorrows and complaints, 
which the world treats with such indifference, enter the heart 
of our Father in heaven, and bring us unfailing relief ! 

The church in Philadelphia was the only one in Asia that 
escaped unscathed from the bitter persecutions of Trajan ; 
and this is an earnest and an assurance of our Lord's protect- 
ing presence to every soul who keeps "the word of his 
patience." 





O Lamb of God, who cam'st to take 

The sin of man away, 
Fast hold me for thy mercy's sake, 
And I shall never stray ! 



Thomas MacKellar. 



November 20. 



3Lo&c ro&erstj) all gins*. — Pro v. x. 12, 

7tf/£<? ^^aT to yourselves : If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke 
him ; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee 
seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, say- 
ing, I repent ; thou shalt forgive him. — Luke xvii. 3, 4. 

/ say not unto thee, Until seven times : but, Until seventy times 
seven, — Matt, xviii. 22. 

THIS parable teaches the lesson of unbounded forgive- 
ness. .The Jews, it is said, forgave the third offence, 
but not the fourth. Peter doubles the number, and thinks, 
perhaps, he has reached the limit of Christian forgiveness. 
But Christ says, " I say not unto thee, until seven times, 
but until seventy times seven." 

By this he does not mean "seventy-seven times," nor four 
hundred and ninety times. He uses a definite number for 
an unlimited multitude. Boundless forgiveness is the divine 
law. But this boundless pardon has its condition. " If he 
repe7it, forgive him." " I forgave thee all that debt, because 
thou desiredst me" 

To the penitent only is forgiveness boundless. Forgive- 
ness is a test of character ; it is an index of the new birth. 
The unrenewed heart does not thus forgive. "Take heed 
to yourselves," an unforgiving spirit is proof of ungodliness : 
" O thou wicked servant, etc." It is a forerunner of doom : 
" His lord was very wroth, etc. ; " " so likewise shall my 
heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts 
forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." 




Oh, may I learn the art, 

With meekness to reprove ; 
To hate the sin with all my heart, 

But still the sinner love. 

C. Wesley. 



November 21. 



sfjall not tempt tfjr 3Lorti gour @0tf. — Deut. vi. 16. 

Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. — Matt. iv. 7. 

" T ET these sayings [of Christ] sink down into your ears," 

J 4 for here is the secret of holiness and happiness. 

We must come up to the standard of God's holy will and 
not attempt to drag him down to that of our sinful desires. 

Christ's example is rich with suggestions for our own 
successful resistance of temptation. Before the temptation, 
John the Baptist attests he saw "the Spirit descending and 
remaining" on Christ. The heart on which the Holy Spirit 
descends and remains is a citadel that Satan can never cap- 
ture. The weapon Christ employed to repel the Tempter 
was the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." A 
mind stored with Bible truths and a life which exemplifies 
them can best repel Satan. Christ also availed himself of 
the shield of faith." Implicit faith in God acts as water on 
flames: it " quenches all the hery darts of the wicked." Be 
not afraid of the Devil, but only of sinning against God. 
Satan is a coward; ;; resist the Devil, and he will flee from 
you." One of the Christian's sweetest experiences comes 
after successfully resisting temptation. At the end of the 
struggle, " Behold, angels came and ministered unto him." 



Think not thy Saviour does not see 

When Satan casts a dart ; 
No arrow ever wounded thee 

That did not pierce his heart. 

THOMAS MACKELLAR. 




November 22. 



Sfjall I fjttic frnm Sfjrafjam tfjat tbtng rufjtcfj E too? 

Gen. xviii. 17. 

Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth 7iot 
7vhat his lord doeth : but I have called you friends ; for all things 
that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. — 
John xv. 15. 

THESE inspiring and comforting words of Jesus were ad- 
dressed to the eleven on the night before he suffered. 
The revelations made to them at the passover table, in 
the early evening, concerning his betrayal and death, had 
blasted all their earthly hopes and expectations. They saw 
themselves poor, outcast, and alone in the world: and "sor- 
row had rilled their hearts."' Could they have grasped the 
blessed import of these wonderful words, what light would 
have fallen on their darkness ! Henceforth 55 the relation 
of the disciple to his Lord is no more that of a servant 
(the conception of rabbinical discipleship) not knowing what 
his Lord does, but the endearing, confidential relation of 
friend, loved even as the Father hath loved his only begot- 
ten Son, and admitted to the secrets of his Lord through 
the abiding Comforter, and made co-worker together with 
him. constrained by his unspeakable love. Yea, more: hav- 
ing received "the adoption" he is made " joint-heir " with 
him, "if he abides in his love." "if so be that he suffers 
with him," " that they may be glorified together/' 




Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, 
But as thou dwell'st with thy disciples, Lord, 
Familiar, condescending, patient, free, 
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me. 



November 23. 



Nritfjet sljall tfje flame tunlile upon tfjee* — Isaiah xim. 2. 

Zfe //to wercometh shall not be hurt of the second death. — Rev. 
ii. 11. 

r I A HIS is what the Head of the Church says by the Spirit 



1 to encourage our fidelity and perseverance to the last. 
This solves beforehand the problem of our future. The 
conflict is to be won by devotion and service to the Master, 
in opposition to that heartless apathy which surrenders every- 
thing to the force of circumstances, to the spirit of the age, 
and the eddying course and drifting fashions of the world. 
This is an appeal to faith, — to that far-reaching sense of 
the soul which apprehends " the glory that shall be revealed 
in us," " ready to be revealed in the last time," the unseen 
but eternal inheritance undefiled. Have we an " ear " for 
this revelation? The Spirit speaks this promise to the 
churches ; but does he find faith among us ? Do our souls 
respond to the voice from heaven, — the still small voice 
of God ? Faith in these things ever waxing, shall be more 
than a match for the blatant gabble, the glitter and glare, 
the noise and show of the world. The promise allures us 
to the future for our rest, our satisfaction, and exceeding great 
reward. We have the promise of exemption from the " sec- 
ond death," and its fulfilment confers " immortal life " 
through Jesus Christ. O Christian, let the full power of the 
immortal future come upon you ! 



But to those who have confessed, 
Loved, and served the Lord below, 

He will say, " Come near, ye blessed, 
See the kingdom I bestow; 

You forever 
Shall my love and glory know." 





John Newton. 



November 24. 



3Ut fjtm bt gOUt feat* — Isaiah viii. 13. 

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the 
soul : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body 
in hell. — Matt. x. 28. 

HP HERE is a place for fear and hope in the life of faith. 



1 God deals with men by holding forth as motives the 
rewards and punishments of the future. He warns through 
fear and woos through hope. Fear catches the note of alarm, 
and the wise soul shuns the evil. Nor does it stop with 
mere warning ; it goes on with help to the end. The fear 
meant in this verse is awe without terror. It is filial fear 
that loves while it venerates, and trusts while it adores. 

There is a right fear and a wrong fear. The wrong fear 
is the fear of man, — for the worst he can do is bound up 
with time, and can but hurt the body. It is always evil 
and bringeth a snare. It did much for King Saul's ruin; 
it led David to most unseemly conduct ; it brought Peter to 
great sin and grief in his shameful fall. There is also a 
wrong fear of God, which is ignorant and hard and cruel 
as the grave. The right fear is that which knows God's 
power to destroy both soul and body in hell, and then turns 
from sin to the way of righteousness, seeking divine truth 
and a nobler life. And so the wise soul turns to Christ, 
himself the way, the truth, and the life. 

Perfect love casteth out all wrong fear ; but the right fear 
of God abides. It is the beginning of wisdom, a fountain 
of life. " The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. " 





Fear hath no dwelling there ; 
Come to the mingling of repose and love, 
Breathed by the silent spirit of the dove, 
Through the celestial air ! 



Felicia D. Hemans. 



November 25. 



Wqt ©oti of out fathers trattj gtonfieti fjts &on 3zm&. 

Acts iii. 13. 

This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the 
Son of God might be glorified thereby. — John xi. 4. 

LORD, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." This is 
the touching, suggestive message which comes from 
two troubled hearts at Bethany to Jesus in his Perean re- 
treat. " This sickness is not unto death." This is the short 
strange answer which the messenger is bidden to take back. 
Perhaps before the words were spoken, certainly before they 
could reach the sisters, their brother was dead. Did the 
Master mean to mock their grief, or was he too for the 
once mistaken? Ah, there is a ray of resurrection-light 
gleaming in that dark message, if they would only see it ! 
A saint's sickness is never unto death. He may seem to 
die, but it is death in seeming only. The heavenly Father 
will have no dead children. What seemed to be the death 
of Lazarus was only the occasion for kindling in the hearts 
of his friends the flame of a heavenly hope. His grave was 
only a door through which the glory of the divine love and 
power shone anew upon the paths of men. Earthly afflic- 
tion is but a means of manifesting and magnifying the love 
of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Sickness in the Master's 
friends is not unto death, but unto discipline, and the dis- 
covery of his glory to us, and through us to others. 



Without murmur, uncomplaining, 

In his hand 
Lay whatever things thou canst not 

Understand ; 
Though the world thy folly spurneth, 
From thy faith in pity turneth, 
Peace thy inmost soul shall fill, 

Lying still. 




H. A. P. (Translation). 



November 26. 



iZTfjougfj jje foist tt not, get is Ijc fitttltg. — Lev. v. 17. 

But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, 
shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, 
of him shall be much required : and to whom men have committed 
much, of him they will ask the more. — Luke xii. 48. 

THINGS "worthy of stripes," wrong things, committed 
in ignorance, are not so blameworthy as things com- 
mitted against conscience. In the former case, they are 
committed without purpose of wrong; in the latter case, they 
are actuated by evil intent. Ignorance of duty and con- 
tempt of duty may be followed by precisely the same form of 
wrong-doing, but not involving the same degree of guilt, as 
a few stripes and many stripes are adapted to this diversity 
of guilt. But stripes, few or many, are the merited and cer- 
tain penalty of all sin. And " unto whomsoever much is 
given, of him shall be much required," because his obligation 
is proportioned to his privilege and opportunity, — to the 
stewardship which demands his faithfulness. So man deals 
with his fellow-man. It is common-sense justice, and Jesus 
Christ indorses the principle in the above words which fell 
from his lips of infinite wisdom. What then must be the 
degree of guilt of those to whom the unspeakable riches of 
Christ are freely offered, and who refuse to accept them, but 
cleave to the beggarly elements of sin instead ? " How shall 
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ? " 



Freely from me ye have received, 

Freely in love to others give ; 
Then shall your doctrines be believed, 

And by your labors, sinners live. 

Unknown. 




November 27. 



2Hjc merit sfjall fnfprtt tfjc eartfju — Psalm xxxvii. u. 

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. — Matt. v. 5. 

WHAT is it to be meek ? He who pronounced this beati- 
tude said. " I am meek." To be meek, then, is to 
wear the yoke he wore, — to submit to the will of the Father 
as he did. A mild manner, a sweet expression, a retiring dis- 
position, are but the superficialities of meekness. Essentially, 
it is of the heart, not of the face. The Master was meek 
in self-assertion, as in self-devotion and self-denial. The same 
spirit spoke in the " nevertheless " of the court of Caiaphas 
as in the " nevertheless " of the garden of Gethsemane. Meek- 
ness is conformity to the will of God in perception, motive, 
choice, and act. What. then, is the blessedness of the meek? 
Is it that of the Dives who had not "where to bestow his 
goods " ? Is the reward of submission to the will of God such 
an ;i inheritance of the earth " as can be measured by the acre, 
or counted in coin ? The questions answ T er themselves. Such 
was not the reward of the Master's meekness. To ''inherit 
the land " is a proverbial phrase. Every Jew understood it. 
After the conflict for Canaan, then its undisputed possession : 
so the people of God were "given rest as he promised them," 
and their fathers before them. The blessedness of the meek 
is restful self-possession in view of the soul's heritage in God. 
" The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance ; yea, I have a 
goodly heritage." This is the song of the meek. 




Lord, when I all things would possess, 

I crave but to be thine ; 
Oh, lowly is the loftiness 

Of these desires divine ! 

T. H. Gill. 



November 28. 



JEfje tootli of tf)£ ilorti tnouretj) for ebcr, — 1 Peter i. 25. 

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my zvoi'ds shall not pass 
away. — Matt. xxiv. 35. 

HOW amazing the prescience here evinced ! Immutable 
as are Nature's laws, vast as is the seeming magni- 
tude and age, long as is the obvious duration of the physical 
universe, Jesus yet calmly declared that it shall finally per- 
ish; and modern science confirms the remarkable declara- 
tion. Equally amazing is the confidence with which this 
man deliberately affirms the imperishability of his own w T ords. 
Without having committed to writing a single line, he yet 
declares that his words shall outlive the very universe, are 
literally immortal. Certain it is that these words were never 
more vital or influential than to-day, — abiding utterly un- 
wasted the white light of even this wonderful nineteenth 
century. 

Who is this man that thus spake, that is responsible for 
this most astounding statement ? What philosophical his- 
torian has ever accounted for him, or ever will? 

All men, manifestly, have a direct and personal interest in 
these "wonderful words of life," — particularly in those re- 
lating to human destiny and the terms of salvation. Let the 
unbeliever ponder them and tremble ! Let the believer read 
them and rejoice ! 



The mountains melt away 

When once the Judge appears, 

And sun and moon decay, 
That measure mortal years ; 

But still the same in radiant lines 

The promise shines through all the flame. 




Philip Doddridge. 



November 29. 



2111 tfjat intll Itbe goilg in ffiijrfet 3zm& »tjall suffer 
yzxmutitm. — 2 Tim. Hi. 12. 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for 
their' s is the kingdom of heaven. — Matt. v. io. 

THIS is the last of the Beatitudes; and while it confirms 
and seals the sevenfold blessedness of the righteous, 
it points out what the Christian has to expect from the 
world's enmity in his endeavor to obtain these precious 
jewels. Strange that the world should return hatred for 
love, persecution for peace-making, malignancy for mercy! 
Yet so it is. Nor does the blessed Master conceal this truth, 
even as his disciples enter his service. Frankly, unreserv- 
edly, he unfolds to them what salary they may expect in his 
service here on earth. Listen to him : " Men shall revile you 
and persecute you and expel you from their society, and say 
all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake" That 
is the key to this persecution. The surest evidence and 
the most distinctive mark of genuine discipleship is thus 
announced by the Holy Ghost, " All that will live godly in 
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." What then? "Re- 
joice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in 
heaven." If the world curses you, God calls you "blessed." 
If the world will not tolerate you beneath the heavens, God 
will take you up into heaven. If the world's salary be death, 
God's reward is eternal life. 

Brethren, while we sojourn here, 
Fight we must, but should not fear. 
Foes we have, but we've a Friend, 
One that loves us to the end. 
Forward, then, with courage go ; 
Long we shall not dwell below. 
Soon the joyful news will come, 
" Child, your Father calls ; come home ! " 

Joseph Swain. 



November 30. 



8Cfje toaij sfjall be ratstti incorruptible, — 1 Cor. xv. 52. 

Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that 
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that 
have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done 
evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. — John v. 28, 29. 

IMMORTALITY, then, is not conditional. It is inherent 
in human nature. It does not depend upon good behav- 
ior ; it cannot be forfeited by sin. Even the most desperate 
of criminals cannot escape from it. much less the most igno- 
rant of agnostics. Until all have stood before the judgment 
seat of Christ, until some have gone away into eternal pun- 
ishment and other some into eternal life, until every man 
reaps that which he has sown, and having been judged 
according to the deeds done in the body, has received his 
reward, the Word of God affords no possible hope of escape 
from the truth of inherent and inalienable immortality, and 
after that none could wish for one. lt It is appointed' unto 
men once to die, and after that the judgment/' If death is 
universal, so must judgment be; and if judgment be univer- 
sal, it must be because the identity of each individual is 
retained beyond the grave, for judgment would be impossible 
or absurd without identity in the person judged. 

Here, then, is a joyous hope for the believing, as well as a 
faithful warning — an affectionate, tender, truthful, and there- 
fore faithful warning — for the unbelieving. 



Then shall nature stand aghast, 
Death himself be overcast ; 
Then, at her Creator's call, 
Near and distant, great and small, 
Shall the whole creation rise, 
Waiting for the great assize. 




Stanley (Translation). 



December i. 



jfor tfjts cause Jjc fe tljc metixatot of tfje ncfo tcsta^ 
mmt, — heb. ix. 15. 



VV He had offered himself as " a lamb without spot and 
without blemish : " and thenceforth, wrote one to whom that 
one offering was the spell that at once broke his hard heart 
and transformed his life, " this man, after he had offered 
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of 
God."' And yet his work had not wholly ended. We turn from 
the scene on Calvary, and a little later hear him saying to his 
disciples. " Go ye." build, preach, and surfer. " and lo. I am 
with you alway. even to the end of the world." The work 
of sacrifice is ended only that the work of founding, inspir- 
ing and transforming shall begin. " Ye shall be witnesses 
unto me." he says : and then we read. " And they went forth 
and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them." 

So he means it to be with us. Ah ! how often, when the 
burden is heavy and the way lonely, we would fain say of all 
that makes life a labor and a pain. " It is finished." And so 
we shall: but not. surely, to pass on into an inglorious ease. 
As with the best lives and the noblest powers competency 
rises side by side with the task, so it will be with us and 
with our work. One day the cross-bearing will be done, and 
we shall be privileged to say, " It is finished." 



It is finished. — JOHN xix. 30. 




closes his work of sacrifice. 




"It is finished ! " Oh, what pleasure 
Do these precious words afford ! 

Heavenly blessings without measure 
Flow to us from Christ the Lord. 



Jonathan Evans, 



December 2. 



BSifjg persecutes^ tfjcu tne? — Acts ix. 4. 

Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to 
me. — Matt. xxv. 45. 



1 pronounced upon the lost. The righteous and wicked 
have been finally separated. The great company on the 
right hand of the Judge have heard the welcome, " Come, 
ye blessed,"' and now the irrevocable doom descends upon 
" them on the left hand." Here Christ as the King and Judge 
identifies himself with his people. The lost are not con- 
demned for sins of which they have been found guilty, but 
for opportunities of serving the Master which they have 
selfishly neglected. The hungry, the sick, the naked, the 
stranger, and prisoner had not been ministered unto. Inas- 
much as they had neglected to serve the least of these his 
brethren, they had neglected to serve Christ himself. It is 
the love of Christ which constrains his people to gentle deeds 
of loving ministration. Behind all doing lie thought and 
feeling. As we think of Christ and feel toward him so will 
our actions ever be. Neglecting to help and comfort his af- 
flicted disciples implies lack of love to Christ and Christ's. 
Therefore doom falls upon the lost because they preferred an 
unloving, self-indulgent, utterly selfish life, to the loving self- 
denial which finds its truest happiness in imitating him 
''who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." 




reason for the dread sentence 




And we believe thy word, 

Though dim our faith may be ; 

Whate'er for thine we do, O Lord, 
We do it unto thee. 



w. w. HOW. 



December 3. 



<Lljr rinjjtcriusiuss of (SalU — Romans x. 3. 

For I say unto you ; That except your righteousness shall exceed the 
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case e?iter 
into the kingdom of heaven. — Matt. v. 20. 

IX the preceding verses Jesus has been declaring the 
majesty of the law : then having made this startling an- 
nouncement, he proceeds to illustrate the many ways in which 
both its spirit and letter were violated by' the traditional 
••doers" and ••teachers." He demands a distinguishing 
righteousness in his followers which shall sharply differen- 
tiate them from these traditionalists. They are 'to show a 
righteousness which shall exceed anything conceived by these 
old religionists, which shall have grained into its very life a 
love for truth and a respect for the interests of others. This 
spotlessness is demanded as the legitimate and convincing 
fruit of faith, the supreme test of the new kingdom. This 
demand is uncompromising. But here, as elsewhere. Jesus is 
insisting on the sacredness of the spirit of the law. The 
righteousness of the Pharisees consisted of an unwearying 
observance of the letter ; but white and clean without, their 
hearts were far from God. The Christian disciple is to come 
by faith into such fellowship with Christ that obedience is the 
result of harmony. He has passed out from the schoolhouse. 
His renewed nature acts from an intelligent acquiescence in 
the spirit of the requirement. His righteousness exceeds 
that of all scribes and Pharisees because it is righteousness 
and not mere commandment-keeping. 




Our God is love ; and all his saints 

His image bear below. 
The heart with love to God inspired 

With love to man will glow. 

THOMAS COTTERILL {altered). 



December 4. 



I^ts Jatfjer's name Written m tfjetr forcfjcatis. 

Rev. xiv. i. 

Him that overcomeih will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, 
and he shall go no more out : and I will write upon him the name of 
my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusa- 
lem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I will 
write upon him my new name, — Rev. iii. 12. 

WHO would not rejoice in the grace qualifying him, the 
honor attaching to him, and the usefulness that would 
justify him in being a pillar in the temple of God. in a temple 
wide as the sanctified universe, and so all-inclusive of what is 
essentially divine as to admit of no humanly builded temple 
within itself ? 

He shall be this pillar, and upon him shall be inscribed the 
threefold name " of my God. the City of my God, and my new 
Name, " — the first a general piety, the second loyalty to the 
kingdom, the third affectionate devotion to the personal Re- 
deemer ; the first Faith, the second Hope, the third Love. 
Upon him that overcometh shall this threefold, perfect name 
be written, identifying him as the Lord's possession and ser- 
vant, and guaranteeing continuous watch, guidance, and pre- 
servation of him : all which in turn shall give him further 
emboldenment. stimulation, and enterprise. 

All this to u him that overcometh," not in his own strength, 
but through faith in the indwelling Spirit and the outworking 
providence of Christ. 




Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart ; 

Come quickly from above ; 
"Write thy new name upon my heart, — 

Thy new best name of Love. 

c. Wesley. 



December 5. 



WLt Ija&e tfje petitions tijat rut ticsirrtJ ot Jjmt, 

1 John v. 15. 

Go thy way ; en id as thou hast believed \ so be it done unto thee. 
Matt. viii. 13. 

IN quick transition the human and the divine in Christ 
pass before us. The great wonder-worker himself mar- 
vels at the miracle of faith. How artlessly human ! 

Unembarrassed at the strange proposition, prompt as an 
echo comes the response, " Go thy way." What sublime 
divinity ! 

It was not the hasty dismissal of impotence or indifference 
or impatience, but the certain answer of a mighty, all-suffi- 
cient helpfulness to the cry of a simple, obedient faith. 
Christ acted like " one having authority." The same sublime 
almightiness that " arched the heavens " is here. " Go ; be it 
done." And this same almightiness seems obedient to a 
Gentile's faith : what more unpromising ? What could be 
mightier ? Absolutely limitless in its own nature, it so ac- 
counted of God's ability : and so it put all the powers at 
its control in perfect accord with the divine purpose. What 
a mighty combination was that ! What indeed are obstacles 
when God and man are one? 




Oh, make but trial of his love ! 

Experience will decide 
How blest are they, and only they, 

Who in his truth confide ! 

Tate. 



December 6. 



Some to rfjrrlasttng life, ant! some to sfjanu ant) e&er- 

lasting rrjntnnpt — Daniel xii. 2. 

shall go away into everlasting puuis/unent : but the 
righteous into life eternal. — MATT. xxv. 46. 

'"T^HESE words were prompted by eternal love. Let us 



1 not turn away from them as we should if some mere 
man had spoken them. He who loved us and gave himself 
for us would not do such a cruel thing as to leave us in any 
doubt about the future state. Sinners are not going to be 
left to perish if it is possible to bring them to repentance 
and forgiveness. God does not take pleasure in the infliction 
of punishment, but rather desires that they may turn and 
live. 

The awfulness of sin is a fact which cannot be avoided, 
and its consequences reach out endlessly. There is no pos- 
sible escape from this issue. Therefore let us take the 
blessed warning at the lips of him who at the same time held 
out his arms, saying. " Come unto me . . . and I will give 
you rest."' And oh. how precious the promise to every one 
who thus flies to Jesus ! Xot one single blow shall reach 
him forever and forever ! Eternal life with all its possibil- 
ities of hope, and joy, and friendship with Jesus, whose life 
bought ours ! Friend, don't wait a single day. Choose 
this day Christ and eternal life. 




O thou who canst not slumber, On us thy mercy lighten, 
Whose light grows never pale, On us thy goodness rest ; 




Teach us aright to number 
Our years before they fail ! 



And let thy Spirit brighten 
The hearts thyself hast blessed ! 



BICKERSTETH. 



December 7. 



Eg not tfjtS tfje Christ ? — John iv. 29. 

Because I said unto thee, I saw thee unde}' the fig tree, believest 
thou ? thou ska It see greater things than these . . . Hereafter ye shall 
see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon 
the Son of man. — John i. 50, 51. 

ONE little word of Christ revealed to Nathaniel that he 
was no more hidden from him than from the Father. 
The self-disclosure which Nathaniel made to God when hid- 
den from all other eyes under the fig-tree, is wholly known 
to Jesus. This was the first revelation to Nathaniel of that 
wisdom of which Christ promises him further knowledge, 
and on it he based his faith and his confession. He had 
personal evidence of the divinity of Christ. 

Is it not clear that the Being who shows man to himself 
is the true God ? This view Christ had given Nathaniel 
and said, " As clearly will I disclose heaven to thee. Mes- 
sengers shall come from its open portals and by me make 
known to you the secrets of the skies. They shall return 
also to heaven, and bear the revelation of men to write in 
the book of God's remembrance." So this one first proof 
by which Nathaniel knew his Lord shall be augmented with 
other evidence, abundant, continuous, and complete. 




Be thou my guide into all truth divine ; 

Give me increasing knowledge of my God. 
Show me the glories that in Jesus shine, 

And make my heart the place of his abode. 

c. Forsyth. 



December 8. 



3Let eberg one of us please fit's neighbour for f)ts goob 

to etJtficattOtt.— Romans XV. 2. 
It is more blessed to give than to receive. — Acts xx. 35. 

THOUGH not recorded in the gospels, these are his 
own words, doubtless like many another saying of 
Jesus preserved by oral tradition and treasured in the mem- 
ory of his disciples. The words are just like him. He was 
himself God's unspeakable gift; his life was one constant 
giving. 

This maxim contradicts the common creed. Men measure 
gladness by the abundance of good received. The true 
blessedness is to impart. It matters not what is given, or 
how accepted, if the giving be but sincere. It is the altar 
which sanctifleth the gift. It may be a cup of water, a word 
of common comfort, a helping hand ; it may be a kindly 
judgment, unspoken sympathy ; it may be the sacrifice of 
ease, health, life, — blessedness attends the gift. What a 
fulness has this blessedness ! It is a well of water within 
the soul ; it is the very joy of the Lord. 

Here is medicine for the sad heart, Here are riches for 
the poorest. Silver and gold if I have it ; if not, such as I 
have give I. Every day brings its opportunities. What a 
day would that be in the life of any man, whose opportuni- 
ties for this blessing were proved to the full ! 




Help us, O Lord, thy yoke to wear, 

Delighting in thy perfect will ; 
Each other's burdens learn to bear, 

And thus thy law of love fulfil. 

Thomas Cotterill. 



December 9. 



Ifyz srtjall fert fjfe flock like a sfjepijcri. — Isaiah xL u. 

/ the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of 
mine. — JOHN x. 14. 

DEFENCELESS by nature, timid and subject to alarm, 
the sheep, of all animals, is the most utterly dependent 
upon human protection. Great, therefore, is the importance 
of a shepherd of undoubted qualifications and fidelity. How 
truly is a man like a sheep ! How impotent against sin, how 
unsuspicious of its approach, how easily deceived as to its 
nature! Nor is he without a shepherd's care; for he can 
sing with the Psalmist, " The Lord is my shepherd." That 
shepherd is Jesus, nor is there need for another. Does the 
Christian need food ? The good Shepherd says for his com- 
fort, " I am the door ; by me if any man enter in, he shall be 
saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." Follow- 
ing him you can sing, " He maketh me to lie down in green 
pastures." Is the Christian sore beset so that he cries out, 
"My soul is among lions," while terror chills his heart? 
Then can he find comfort in the words of his Shepherd, " I 
lay down my life for the sheep." His soul's alarm is stilled, 
and he can say, " He restoreth my soul." Does Satan lay 
claim to the child of God, and fill him with apprehension? 
He is reassured by the words of Jesus, ,k He calleth his own 
sheep by name ; . . . I know my sheep, and am known of 
mine." Hearing that voice speak my name, I find myself 
relieved from fear, and following the Shepherd of my soul, 
am led in "the paths of righteousness." 



Jesus my Shepherd is; 

'T was he that loved my soul ; 
T was he that washed me in his blood ; 

'T was he that made me whole. 
'T was he that sought the lost, 

That found the wandering sheep ; 
'T was he that brought me to the fold ; 

'T is he that still doth keep. h. bonar. 




December io. 



Bccrifoti me , ♦ ♦ as Christ 3tm&. — Gal. iv. 14. 

He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth 7ne ; cuid he that 
receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. — John xiii. 20. 

THE passage teaches two exalting truths. First, the per- 
fect identification of Christ with his disciple. " He 
that receiveth whomsoever I send" — that is, you, my disci- 
ples — " receiveth me" More vividly still he announces this 
truth to Saul persecuting the children of God : <; Why perse- 
cutest thou me f " Christ virtually says in the passage we 
are studying, " I am in you. To receive you is to receive 
me. To reject you is to reject me. A blow at your honor 
is a stab at my heart. The arm uplifted against a disciple 
is a threat against the Son of God." Are you a disciple? 
Think that invisible spiritual nerves, whose seat is the divine 
soul, reach forth and cover you with their sensitive tissue ? 

The second truth is like unto this. So Jesus, the Son, is 
identified with the Father. "He that receiveth me receiveth 
him that sent me." Jesus alone reveals the Father. Only 
through him incarnate can we conceive of God as a spirit. 
" I and my Father are one." " He that hath seen me hath 
seen the Father." 

If, then, Christ is in the Father, and the Father in him, 
and if the disciple is in Christ, and Christ in him, truly are 
we the sons of God ! 




From Christ they all their gifts derive, 
And fed by Christ, their graces live ; 
While, guarded by his mighty hand, 
'Midst all the rage of hell they stand. 

Philip Doddridge. 



December ii. 



5^r sljall sabf tjje fjumrjlr. — Job xxii. 2Q. 

Except ye be converted, and becot?ie as little children, ye shall not 
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble 
himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven. — Matt, xviii. 3, 4. 

TO be converted is to be turned about, implying a real 
renewal of the heart and a radical reformation of the 
life. It is to " be born again," " born of the Spirit." "born 
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of 
man. but of God." Xo man is fully alive till he is converted. 
Our loftiest faculties are tuneless till divine inspiration 
breathes through them. The new life is the supreme need of 
human nature. The soul is dead till it receives the light, life, 
and love of God. 

The new birth gives the childlike spirit. We " become as 
little children : " fear gives way to filial assurance, wilfulness 
to loving obedience, servitude and formalism to spiritual free- 
dom ; grief yields to gladness, and pride is cast out by hu- 
mility. Heavenly crowns cannot be won by great talents ; 
they cannot be bought by great wealth : and great pretensions 
and great performances are equally powerless to obtain them. 
They are freely bestowed upon those who have the childlike 
spirit. God's kingdom is God's family : all of his children, 
his "little children," are royal. Those who feel that they are 
nothing without God are the greatest in the kingdom of God. 



I would not have the restless will 

That hurries to and fro, 
Seeking for some great thing to do, 

Or secret thing to know ; 
I would be treated as a child. 

And suided where I go. anna l. waring. 



December 12. 



Staugfjt of to lo&e one another* — 1 Thess. iv, 9. 

77^> is my commandment. That ye love one another, as I have 
loved you. — John xv. 12. 

THE words are last words of the Christ. They are re- 
peated for the emphasis. The truth is, the first clause 
is a sort of summary of all he had to say, just as the last 
clause is a summary of all he did and was. 

Christ's work began and was wrought in love. His vic- 
tory was won through love. His greatness lay in his love. 
God is love, and God in Christ was only manifested love, — 
love working at all costs. Man's greatness was to be like 
Christ's. Christ contradicts the human instinct about being 
great. Men were to rise above other men, become truly great 
within themselves, and do truly great things in the world, not 
by rivalries and hate, but by helpfulness and love. God 
would measure men by that. Men who had felt Christ would 
measure themselves by that. And the world should be re- 
deemed, the evil in it overcome, wrongs righted, men be 
saved, Christ's kingdom come, — all by the power of love. 
It all would cost men suffering. It cost Christ suffering; 
but there was no other way. There is no other hope of re- 
demption for the world, save in this love — Christ's and 
men's — Christ's working through men. 



Hence may all our actions flow, — 
Love the proof that Christ we know ; 
Mutual love the token be, 
Lord, that we belong to thee. 
Love, thine image, love impart ; 
Stamp it now on every heart. 
Only love to us be given ; 
Lord, we ask no other heaven ! 




C. W T ESLEY. 



December 13. 



Hecettful abarjc all tfjmp, ant fcrspcratclg intdferti* 

Jer. xvii. 9. 

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man ; but that which 
cometh out of the month, this defileth a man. For out of the heart 
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications^ thefts, false 
witness, blasphemies. — Matt. xv. ii, 19. 

WE are taught by these words that right living is a 
weightier matter than to wash the hands oft, eat 
clean meats, and make a fair show in the flesh. 

In such practices the Pharisees excelled, but with no better 
results than self-righteousness and pride. Their experience 
should convince us that moral progress is not attainable by 
that road. 

According to Jesus, the source of sin is corrupt human 
nature. Universal consciousness attests the same. The 
things which defile a man come from within, as when unholy 
passions master the bodily parts and set them to deeds of 
shame. 

And reformatory forces to be successful must operate 
within. King David shows how to start, when he prays, 
" Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit 
within me.'' As we learn to " delight in the law of God after 
the inward man," the strength to yield our members servants 
of righteousness unto holiness will be forthcoming. Gra- 
cious strength ! — which Saint Paul felt the touch of when he 
exclaimed, " I thank God, through Jesus Christ ! " 




I need thee, precious Jesus ! 

For I am full of sin ; 
My soul is dark and guilty, 

My heart is dead within. 
I need the cleansing fountain, 

Where I can always flee, — 
The blood of Christ 'most precious, 

The sinner's perfect plea. 

F. WHITFIELD. 



December 14. 



cLfjts man sljall fic blz&&€b in fjts beelu— James i. 25. 

If ye know these tJwigs, happy are ye if ye do them. — John 
xiii. 17. 

CHRIST, as teacher and Lord, in washing the disciples 1 
feet, gave an effective example of humility and service. 
How selfish ambition and self-righteous ease are rebuked! 
Our divine Redeemer, emptying himself in self-denying of- 
fices for lost sinners, here emphasizes the thought that with 
him for model and leader, knowledge and service must co- 
exist, and will insure supreme happiness. 

Divinely enlightened to know experimentally the riches 
of being justified freely through the redemption that is in 
him, so that Christ is formed in our hearts an example, a 
hope, and a royal priest, our living faith will shine by use- 
ful ministries. Xo Christian service can be mean service. 

Christ-like works will make us Christ-like, as doers of his 
word. Jesus^ ministry in our new birth, and since in wash- 
ing away our daily stains, fills us with glowing love. We 
must exulting tell abroad such good news, and touch wearv 
burden-bearers with our sympathetic and uplifting brother- 
hood. Such knowledge and service kindle on earth beacon- 
fires that live beyond heaven's verge. We. not forgetful 
hearers, but humble doers of Christ-like deeds, through 
sovereign grace are forever happy in our Lord, 




Now to our eyes display 

The truth thy words reveal ; 

Cause us to run the heavenly way, 
Delighting in thy will. 



Bexjamix Beddome. 



December 15. 



JFtllclJ ruttl; tfje fruits of rujijtrousnrss toljirij arc fig 
{tfjrtSt — Phil. i. 11. 

zrine, ye are the branches: he that abideth i)i me, and I 
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do 
nothing. — John xv. 5. 

'"T^HIS parable teaches the essential oneness of Christ and 



1 his people. The inevitable result of that union is 
fruit-bearing. It needs especially to be noted that Christ 
is himself the whole vine — root, stock, and branches,- — 
just as in 1 Cor. xii. 12, the whole body of believers is 
called "Christ." 

The meaning is that in this vine, which is Christ, the 
branches represent believers, who are "in him" and the 
life of each branch is the life of the whole vine. The be- 
liever is not to ask himself, " Am I a branch of the vine ? " 
but rather. " Have I the life of the vine in me ?" Nor is it a 
question of my trying to produce fruit, which always ends in 
failure, but of my " abiding in Christ, the vine." " The 
branch cannot bear fruit of itself." — "without me ye can do 
nothing." The branch simply brings forth what the vine 
produces. 

The fruitage is not so much outward services, which often 
are merely the energy of the flesh, but rather those affec- 
tions and graces called "the fruit of the Spirit.'' And the 
blessed result will continually be "fruit," -more fruit," 
" much fruit." 

"And now. little children, abide in him, that when he 
shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed 
before him, at his coming." 



Not in my self, O Lord, not mine the good ; 
I cannot do the holy thing I would. 
My strength, my hope, my life, are all in thee. 
Thou hast abundance for thyself and me ; 
Not in mvseif I strive. 





December 16, 



£Ijc if all fn Cfjrfet gtjall rise first. — i t-hess. iv. 16. 

(9^r friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but I go, that I may awake him out 
of sleep. — John xi. n. 

JESUS called Lazarus his friend, — blessed title, glorious 
privilege, friend of Jesus ! Am I his friend ? He gives 
us the test, — " Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I 
command you." His command is. trust me, love me. serve 
me. Do I obey this ? Then I am Jesus' friend, and what 
is more, he is my friend. This friendship is a treasure 
neither time nor chance, men nor devils, life nor death can 
take away. Let us not imagine Christ is not our friend be- 
cause we suffer. He allowed Lazarus to die, yet we are told 
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Jesus' 
friends now upon earth may all die. may all sleep: but he 
has not forgotten them, one day he will say to the angels ; 
" My friends sleep, but I go to awake them." Then the 
Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of 
the archangel and with the trump of God. And the dead in 
Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet 
the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 




Asleep in Jesus ! Oh, for me 
May such a blissful refuge be ! 
Securely shall my ashes lie, 
And wait the summons from on high. 

Mrs. Margaret Mackay. 



December 17. 



EBWjro 31 xztoxb tng name E fcotXI tomz unto tfjee . . . 
anti hlzm fyzz. — Ex. xx. 24. 

If two of y on shall agree oji earth as touching any thing that they 
shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am 
I in the midst of them. — Matt, xviii. 19, 20. 

CHRISTIANS are brethren. With a community of in- 
terests, they have common needs and wants. Here is 
our Lord's special promise to them when they meet together 
to ask for what they in common desire. There are promises 
to private prayer, to family prayer, to public prayer; this 
promise is to the symphony of prayer. Giving the smallest 
number that could form a union, Christ gives the largest 
encouragement to united prayer. Very sweet is the assur- 
ance of his presence then ; that is enough. He is the She- 
chinah in this Holy of Holies. It is he who binds the saints 
together w T hen they say "our." When he is one of a pray- 
ing company, what wonder that " it shall be done for them "? 
As Westcott says, ,; Their prayer is only some form of his 
teaching transformed into a supplication, and so it will neces- 
sarily be heard." They ask in his name; that pleads his 
authority and his wisdom. Christ has omnipotence and 
omniscience; we have neither. It were not to be desired, if 
this large promise offered the first and not the second. Let 
us therefore have faith, and " keep not silence till he estab- 
lish Jerusalem." 



Oh, joy, that we, who pray for all, by all 

Commended are to God in daily prayer ! 

Yea, now, as in time past, and yet again 

Through time to come, that church which shall not fall 

From night to morn breathes forth upon the air 

Meek intercession for the sons of men. sir Aubrey de vere. 




December 18. 



spake, anti tt ruas ione. — Psalm xxxiii. 9. 

I will ; be thou clean. — Matt. viii. 3. 

HERE is conscious power. The petition of the leper 
had been in faith in the power, but in question as to 
the willingness to exercise it in his particular case. The 
answer reveals both power and willingness. I will ; " there 
is simple majesty in the words. It is as if the Lord said, " I 
have the power, and I will exercise it. Thy faith hath not 
been reposed upon me in vain.*' 

But, further, it is power for cleansing, — " Be thou clean." 
How much that cleanness meant ! Xo longer an outcast 
shunned of men, but clean. — the defilement, the loathsome- 
ness removed by that omnipotent word ! The poor leper 
was reinstated in the privileges of his birthright. 

The two essential things in soul-cleansing are thus brought 
into view, — faith on the human side, power on the divine 
side. " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," — 
this is the soul's cry in weakness, but in trust. The Lord's 
answer, full of divine power, is sure to follow, " I will; be 
thou clean." Oh, the blessedness to all eternity of a clean 
soul ! 

(P. u.. 



Up to the place of thine abode 

I lift my waiting eye ; 
To thee, 6 holy Lamb of God, 
Whose blood for me so freely flowed, 

I raise my ardent cry. 

Thomas Hastings. 



December 19. 



©ur Jjantfg; tjafo fjantileti of tlje EMorti of life. 



1 John i. i. 



Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither 
thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but 
believi?tg. — John xx. 27. 



his disciples. Thomas was absent. When the disci- 
ples informed him of the visit of their risen Lord, he refused 
to accept their testimony. Nothing but an ocular demon- 
stration would satisfy him. He specified with great par- 
ticularity of detail the only evidence that would remove his 
incredulity. He continued in this state of unbelief for a 
week. He did not abandon his faith in the Christ he had 
known; he simply claimed that so astounding an event as 
the resurrection of the Lord should be made as plain to him 
as it had been to the others with whom he was on an official 
equality. He acted perhaps unconsciously, as if to have 
" seen the Lord " was essential to the office and work of an 
apostle. His devotion to Christ, his courage, his willingness 
to suffer death (John xi. 16), show him to be of strong char- 
acter. He still clung to the disciples, although their state- 
ments were incredible to him. At the end of a week, he 
went with them to the place of meeting. He expected some- 
thing or he would not have gone. He waited for the mani- 
festation. According to his faith it was done unto him. 
Christ graciously appeared and spoke in the words of the 
text. Let us be cautious in our judgment. Every one must 
see Christ for himself if he would show him to others. 




resurrection Christ appeared to 




God with us ! oh, wondrous grace ! 
Let us see him face to face, 
That we may Immanuel sing, 
As we ought, our Lord and King. 



Sarah Slinn. 



December 20. 



2Tl)0u canst t»o tberg tjjmg, — Job xiii. 2. 



& impossible ; but with God all things are possible. 



WE mortals are continually " troubled about many things." 
Our responsibilities, perplexities, and crosses are so 
many and so overwhelming that failure and loss seem inevi- 
table, as we cry concerning life's problem, " With men this 
is impossible." Yet back of the single, apparently meaning- 
less stitches we are weaving into life's pattern, there is a plan, 
simple, wise, divine. Near the weary worker stands one 
ready to transmute the plain, coarse metal of human love and 
toil into the shining gold of divine acceptance. By the bed- 
side of the sufferer wasting under the power of disease is 
one whose touch will soon release the imprisoned spirit 
and soothe the aching flesh, and afterwards reunite body and 
spirit in glorified manhood forever. Beside the dark open 
grave, into which our hopes and affections often seem to be 
hurrying, stands the Conqueror of death and the grave, ready 
to brighten our pathway down into the valley, and to open 
for us on the other side a glorious path up the heavenly 
heights. 

There is, there can be, no distress so great, no emergency 
so sudden, no enemies so strong, as to defeat or mar the 
plans of our strong One. While we listen to these words of 
Jesus, "With God ail things are possible," we may also hear 
him saying, " All things are possible to him that believeth." 



Matt. xix. 26. 




Lord, we pray, and know thou nearest, 

For thy promises are true ! 
Grant the heart-wish that is dearest; 

He who knows can also do ! 



SYMINGTON'. 



December 21. 



3tm$ Cfjrfet tfje same gtstrr"bag, ani to bag, ano for 

rbct- — Heb. xiii. 8. 

/ «w A //ha and Omega, the beginning a?id the end, the first and 
the last. — Rev. xxii. 13. 

HOW sweet this announcement of his name must have 
been to the aged and persecuted disciple in his lonely 
banishment ! Our Lord makes special revelations of himself 
to his afflicted servants. This name tells of his unchanging 
faithfulness and grace. The tones of the voice are readily 
recognized by the disciple whom Jesus loved, and awaken 
memories of the blessed fellowship of his early life. The 
first courteous greeting, "Whom seek ye?" the kindly invi- 
tation, " Come and see ; " the first day spent in his company, 
— these and many other events come back with great clear- 
ness and force. 

This name also indicates that his doctrines have not 
changed. Our Lord is the Alpha and Omega of divine 
revelation. He is the metropolis of the Scriptures, and all 
the doctrines, as the king's highways, lead directly to the 
city of our God. The doctrines are simply facts about 
Christ in his covenant relations to his people. Election is 
his love choosing us from eternity : justification, his obedi- 
ence and death providing righteousness for us ; adoption, 
his grace putting us into the family of our Father; and the 
perseverance of the saints, the fact that " having loved his 
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.'' 
O believer, he is all thy salvation ! Blessed are they that 
trust in him ! 




'Tis Jesus, the first and the last, 

Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home; 

We '11 praise him for all that is past, 
And trust him for all that 's to come. 

Joseph Hart. 



December 22. 



Qlfyut no man put a stutnblmgblorfe . . . m f)ts 
fitotfjcr'S toag* — Romans xiv. 13. 

Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth vie. 
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it 
were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and 
that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. — Matt, xviii. 5, 6. 

IN my name." In these words you have once more that 
solemn truth, so often taught in the Bible, that with 
God, motive is of infinite moment. 

As in the day when Samuel looked on Eliab. comely and 
tall, and confidently declared, " Surely the Lord's anointed is 
before him! " and the Lord answered and said, "The Lord 
seeth not as man seeth : for man looketh on the outward ap- 
pearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.'" even so to- 
day the heart and its motives will before everything else 
be remarked by God. The widow's two mites, the cup of 
cold water, the receiving of one such little child in his name. 
is a kindness done to himself. 

My soul, seek for thyself the right motive, and thine shall 
be the rich reward ! 

"But whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumble 
and fall" shall surely and sorely be punished! Awful 
thought 1 — my care is not only for my own soul, but also for 
the souls of others. "No man liveth unto himself." I am 
not only fearfully and wonderfully made, but also fearfully 
placed. My acts, my words, my very looks affect others for 
weal or woe ! See that thy walk be circumspect, so shalt 
thou be free from the blood of all men ! 




No act falls fruitless ; none can tell 

How vast its power may be, 
Nor what results infolded dwell 

Within it silently. 

Anonymous. 



December 23 



SJEitf) jag sljall uz bra&) ruattt out of tfjc torlls of 

gaftattxiru — Isaiah xii. 3. 

/A k newest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 

Giz'e me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would 
have given thee living water. — John iv. 10. 

IF the puzzled woman had but known that the mysterious 
stranger then talking with her was no mere Jew. but the 
divine Creator of all the hoods of waters, and the divine 
Friend and Redeemer of the soul that is at the same time 
sin-smitten and athirst for heavenly blessings, she would 
have become a suppliant herself and would have sued for 
that "gift of God" which Christ, the gracious and omnipo- 
tent Jehovah, had it in his power to bestow upon her. Xor 
would he have denied her request, but would have conferred 
upon her that true inward ••fountain of living water" so 
faintly symbolized by the freshly bubbling fountain-heads 
and leaping streams of this earth. 

Eternal Life." He who, as some think, pointed to 
the rising sun when he exclaimed. " I am the light of the 
world." stood amid the pillared galleries of Herod's temple 
when the golden rlagon was brought from the pool of Siloam 
on the last day of the feast and poured on the altar, and 
cried, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." 




We taste thee, O thou living Bread, 
And long to feast upon thee still ; 
We drink of thee, the Fountain-head, 



And thirst our souls from thee to fill. 



BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX ( "translated by Ray Palmer). 



December 24. 



2Hje just artjall It&e fig j)ts fattljf. — Hab. ii. 4. 

//to believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believe th 
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name 
of the only begotten Son of God. — John iii. 18. 

THE issues of the final judgment are anticipated and 
virtually determined in this world. Character is the 
key to destiny. Faith and salvation, unbelief and condem- 
nation, are severally united in the eternal fitness of things. 

The believer is not judged. He is passed from death unto 
life. He has accepted the proffered remedy as the bitten 
Israelites did when they looked on the serpent of brass. 

Judgment is for those who believe not. Sin has wages ; 
those who choose to abide in it and who reject the Saviour 
pronounce sentence on themselves. Primarily, it is not 
Christ who condemns them ; they have been judged al- 
ready. The quality and measure of their guilt are shown 
in this cumulative indictment: they believe not on Jesus, 
the Son of God, the only begotten, who is most high in the 
glory of God the Father, and besides whom there is no other 
deliverer. 

" How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation ? " 
But if we accept it, if we humbly urge our title to that 
blessed estate for which there is no judgment, we can vin- 
dicate our hope only by walking in the light and making 
our deeds manifest that they are wrought in God. 




Believe in him who died for thee, 
And sure as he hath died, 

Thy debt is paid, thy soul is free, 
And thou art justified. 



c. Wesley. 



December 25. 



2Cfje gift of @oti t* eternal life t^roitglj 3mm Cfjrtst 

OUr 3LortT* — Romans vi. 23. 

.ft? loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life. — John iii. 16. 

THE grandest doctrine of the Word of God to my mind 
is the doctrine of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. I 
will contend for every letter of truth, but if I must give up 
something, I will hold tenaciously to this: "Without shed- 
ding of blood there is no remission of sin ; " " the blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 

As to this doctrine of sacrifice, — to put it plainly, this truth 
of substitution, — Christ Jesus was made sin for us, though 
he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness 
of God in him. When God the Holy Ghost led you to 
receive this fact, did it not satisfy the intense craving of 
your spirit? Did you ever know what perfect rest about 
sin was till you saw it laid upon Christ, carried away by 
Christ up to the tree, borne by him upon the tree, and there 
made an end of by the shedding of his precious blood ? 

Would anything short of that, do you think, content you 
now ? I am sure it would not. There is a thirst in the 
human heart that nothing can ever satisfy, but " God so 
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." 




Oh, may we keep and ponder in our mind, 
God's wondrous love in saving lost mankind ! 
Trace we the Babe who hath retrieved our loss 
From his poor manger to his bitter cross, 
Treading his steps, assisted by his grace, 
Till man's first heavenly state again takes place. 

BYROM. 



December 26. 



E count all tfjmgs but loss for tfje raellencg of tlje 

fenotoUtlge of (CfjrtSt ScgUS* — Phil. iii. 8. 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking 
goodly pearls : who, when he had foimd one pearl of great price, went 
and sold all that he had, and bought it. — Matt. xiii. 45, 46. 

THIS is a parable for believers; the man was "seeking 
goodly pearls." But there are some converted people 
who are not represented by this eager merchantman. They 
are satisfied with the salvation which grace gives to penitent 
faith. These have found a pearl in the possession of a hope ; 
but they have not found the pearl of great price, — they do not 
know Jesus as a personal friend. The knowledge that I am 
saved is the lowest round on the ladder of Christian attain- 
ment : there is a richer knowledge than this. It is the 
knowledge of Christ who is the truth. 

This knowledge has two conditions. One is intense eager- 
ness, " I press toward the mark." Christ does not reveal the 
riches of his grace to him who is not longing and praying for 
clearer light. The other condition is sacrifice, — "He sold all 
that he had and bought it." When we have caught a glimpse 
of his preciousness, we count all things but loss to " know 
him and the power of his resurrection." They are the true 
"higher life'' disciples who can say, " I live, yet not I, but 
Christ liveth in me." 




I bless the Christ of God, 

I rest in love divine, 
And with unfaltering lip and heart 

I call this Saviour mine. 

H. BONAR, 



December 27. 



^appg arr tfjcsc tfjg srr&ants . , . tfjat Ijrar tijg Snisliom. 

1 Kings x. 8. 

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men 
of this generation^ and condemn them : for she came front the utmost 
parts of the ea7'th to hear the wisdom of Solomon : and, behold, a 
greater than Solomon is here. — Luke xi. 31. 

CHRIST'S are never careless words : we do right to take 
out all they contain. 
*■ The queen of the south." Then that romantic story of 
1 Kings x.. and again of 2 Chron. ix. is true. This queen 
of Sheba did live when Solomon lived. In her remote land 
she did hear how great and wise he was. and with camel- 
loads of spices, gold, and jewels, did journey to ask him 
hard questions, and acknowledge him greater and grander 
than her thought. How Christ's touch livens up such old 
pictures \ 

" A greater than Solomon." Xot in rank. gold, power, but 
in divine nature and perfect character. He says it who alone 
has right to say it. 

Rise up in the judgment." Then there will be a judgment 
and destinies be weighed, and spiritual comparisons settled. 
She will be there. Christ's generation of a thousand years 
later will be there. We shall be there. 

Shall condemn them.*' With little light, she came far to 
get more. Those to whom Christ spake faced brighter 
light, but saw it with shut eyes. We have more and bet- 
ter than all they: God grant we may so see by it that the 
rule which convicted them condemn not us ! 




Father, in us thy Son reveal ; 
Teach us to know and do thy will ; 
Thy saving power and love display, 
And guide us to the realms of day ! 

JOHN FAWCETT. 



December 28. 



liragmg atoags fcutfj all pragcr, . . . atttj faatrijmg 
tfjemmto. — e?h. vi, 18. 

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation : the spirit indeed 
is willing, but the flesh is weak. — Matt. xxvi. 41. 

THE disciples were under trial in Gethsemane. They 
had entered the garden, doubtless, with deep concern 
for the Master, but the simplest temptation speedily overcame 
them. Bidden to watch with their Lord, they slept. Any 
other form of danger might have been more easily predicted. 
Had they been cautioned they would have answered in Jesus' 
own words, " What ! can we not watch with thee one hour ? " 
But now they have no excuse to otter till divine love reveals 
the source of weakness and its remedy. What ample empha- 
sis for the admonition to the habit of watchfulness with 
prayer ! 

Drowsiness is the easy path to disloyalty. The disciple 
must watch himself if he would be fitted to watch with Christ. 
He may have been waiting to become involved in some large 
undertaking, and yet find himself asleep before some very 
humble duty. David prayed to be upheld with a willing 
spirit ; but the most willing spirit has a heavy drag upon it 
in the weakness of the flesh. Our petitions too depend upon 
our watchfulness. The wary eye. that is keenest to discern 
its special dangers, is always the eye most readily, intelli- 
gently, and prevailingly turned " to the hills whence cometh 
strength." 




O gracious God, in whom I live, 

My feeble efforts aid ! 
Help me to watch and pray and strive, 

Though trembling and afraid ! 



Anne Steele. 



December 29. 



Oje promise ts unto gnu, ant) to gout tfjtlirrn. 

Acts ii. 39. 

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me : for of 
such is the kingdom of heazen. — Matt. xix. 14. 

THE children were brought for the symbolic touch of 
Jesus' hands, for the gracious power of Jesus' prayer : 
and even the disciples rebuked them, perhaps because they 
deemed the children an untimely intrusion, too young for 
consideration. Not so. -But Jesus said" — the' immortal 
words which ideally lift the children of even- age into his 
arms. Those who know Jesus better than these disciples did, 
those who have themselves become as little children in their 
trust, love, hopefulness, and that wonder which may be touched 
into worship, both recognize their children's need of being 
brought, and instinctively desire to bring them unto him. 
They are burdened with the fact that the child's nature is 
liable to the touch of Satan and of sin. whose touch is death, 
and they long for the laying on of those hands that bless be- 
cause they are accompanied by the prayer which is pro- 
phetic of salvation. Christian parent, let not your ambition 
for the child's worldly welfare, your sinful failure to know 
Jesus in the fulness of his grace, hinder your child from 
coming, or yourself from bringing him to Jesus. Your chil- 
dren may die. Hear then the words. - Suiter little children 
and forbid them not. to come unto me : for of such is the 
kingdom of heaven." 




kk Let them approach.'' he cries. 

Nor scorn their humble claim ; 
The heirs of heaven are such as these, 
For such as these I came." 

Ondekdonk. 



December 30. 



2Ei}at tfjeg fje ttcfj in prjti rxorks. — 1 Tim. vi. 18. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, zvhere moth and 
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal : but lay 
tip for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal : for 
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. — Matt. 
vi. 19-21. 

HUMANITY'S road to enduring wealth is here indicated 
by the One who. though he was rich, became poor that 
we through his poverty might be rich. The same lesson 
opens his mouth in the parables of the rich fool, the unjust 
steward, and the rich worldling. This passage is the moral 
with which he points the choice of the young ruler. 

The kernel of this statement lies in the significance of the 
word heart. " For where your treasure is. there will vour 
heart be also." The rich fool's earth-sphered heart stamped 
him as " one who layeth up treasure for himself and is not 
rich toward God." The unjust steward's worldly prudence 
should make us wise enough to bring the mammon of unright- 
eousness under the heart control of an heir to the " everlasting 
habitations." The rich worldling's heart dissection takes 
place when Abraham says, " Son, remember that thou in thy 
lifetime receivedst thy good things." The young ruler's heart 
sorrow is revealed as the loving Saviour declares, " How 
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of 
God ! " 

" Never treat money affairs with levity," says one of earth's 
noted writers ; ;i money is character." Let us weigh the treas- 
ures of earth in the balance of the Sermon on the Mount. 




Their works of piety and love, 

Performed through Christ, their Lord, 

Forever registered above, 
Shall meet a sure reward. 

Harriet Auber. 



December 31. 



lE&m 00, come, SLorti Sestts, — rev. xxii 20. 

Behold, I come quickly. — Rev. iii. n. 

QUICKLY." The little church at Jerusalem fixed her 
eye upon that " blessed hope," the visible appearing of 
her Lord. It was a reality present to her heart, projected full 
on the vision of her faith. Ever since, she has journeyed on 
as one journeys toward a high mountain, the way being long, 
rough, and sometimes weary. At times the end seemed 
farther off than at the beginning, but at last the stretch is 
well-nigh complete, and she lifts up her head and rejoices in 
the Lord. 

The sun of the gospel is to-day penetrating to the heart of 
old continents in the East. Its light has come to the very 
western edge of this most western land, having encircled the 
whole earth. 

In arts men are now working with the subtlest forces, like 
electricity. In science they are studying the origin of life. 
Everywhere the human mind is busying itself with the last 
analysis of things. All things are pushing themselves to ex- 
tremes. Good men seem to be growing better and bad men 
growing worse. Missions, charities, love, longings for unity 
and a godly fear, anarchy, greed, blasphemy, hate ! The tares 
and the wheat manifestly " grow together." As the Lord said : 
" The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it 
shall speak, and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it; be- 
cause it will surely come, it will not tarry." 

Five ! and the tapers now 

In rosy morning dimly burn ! 
Stand, and be girded thou ; 

Thy Lord will yet return. 
Hark! 't is the matin-call ; 

Oh, when our Lord shall come again, 
At prime or even-fall, 

Blest are the wakeful men ! 

ARTHUR CLEVELAND COXE. 



INDEX OF AUTHORS, 



WITH PLACE OF SETTLEMENT, ETC. 



January* 



1. Rev. W. M. Taylor, D.D 

2. Rev. T. W. Chambers, D.D. . . . 

3. Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, D.D. 

4. Rev. A. H. Bradford, D.D. ... 

5. Rev. Howard Crosby, D.D. ... 

6. Rev. H. M. King, D.D 

7. Rev. William Aikman, D.D. . . 

8. Rev. H. S. Burrage, D.D 

g. Rev. Wendell Prime, D.D. . . . 

10. Rev. W. F. Baixbridge, D.D. . . 

11. Rev. George Macloskie, D.D. . 

12. Rev. R. T. Jeffrey, D.D 

13. Rev. B. B. Warfield, D.D. ... 

14. Rev. E. Walpole Warren .... 

15. Rev. M. McG. Dana, D. D 



Broadway Tabernacle Congregational 

Church, New York. 
Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, 

New York. 
Brooklyn Tabernacle Presbyterian 

Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Congregational Church, Montciair, 

N.J. 

Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 
Emanuel Baptist Church, Albany, 

N. Y. 

Presbyterian Church, Atlantic City, 
N. J. 

Baptist Church, Portland, Me. 
Editor New York " Observer." 

Baptist Minister; Superintendent City 
Missions, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Professor of Biology and Botany, 
Princeton College, N. J. 

Caledonia Road United Presbyterian 
Church, Glasgow, Scotland. 

Professor Didactic and Polemic Theo- 
logy, Princeton Seminary, N. J. 

Holy Trinity Protestant - Episcopal 
Church, New York. 

Kirk Street Congregational Church, 
Lowell, Mass. 



368 



Index of Authors. 



16. Rev. Henry Van Dyke. D.D. . . Brick Presbyterian Church, New York. 

17. Rev. C. F. Thwing, D.D Plymouth Congregational Church, 

Minneapolis, Minn., Associate 
Editor of the " Advance," Chicago. 

iS. Rev. W. T. Sabine, D.D First Reformed Episcopal Church, 

New York. 

19. Rev. M. H. Hutton, D.D Second Reformed Church, New Bruns- 

wick, N. J. 

20. Rev. George S. Mott, D.D. ... Presbyterian Church, Flemington, 

N. J. 

21. Rev. Z. Grenell, D.D First Baptist Church, Detroit, Mich. 

22. Rev. A. B. Mackav . Crescent Street Presbyterian Church, 

Montreal, Canada. 

23. Rev. J. S. Bright. D D Congregational Minister, Dorking, 

England. 

24. Rev. Hubert \Y. Brown Presbyterian Missionary, City of Mexi- 

co, Mexico. 

25. Rev. C F. Hoffman, D.D Protestant - Episcopal Church of All 

Angels, New York. 

26. Rev. A. H. Moment. D.D Westminster Presbyterian Church, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

27. Rev. John E. Todd, D.D Congregational Church of the Re- 

deemer, New Haven, Conn. 

28. Rev. W. F. Crafts First Union Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

29. Rev. Mark Staple Methodist-Episcopal Church, formerly 

in the Methodist (now Methodist 
Protestant) Church, and at one 
time President of the New York 
Conference. 

30. Rev. S. W. Boardman, D D. ... Presbyterian Church, Stanhope, N. J. 

31. Rt. Rev. C. C. Penick, D.D, . . . Protestant - Episcopal Missionary 

Bishop, residing at Louisville, Ky. 



febrttarp. 



1. Rev. Canon C. D. Bell. D.D. . . . St. Mary's Church, Cheltenham. Erg- 

land. 

2. Rev. John H. Shedd. D.D Presbyterian Missionary, Oroomiah, 

Persia. 



Index of Authors. 



369 



3. Rev. Arthur Brooks, D.D. . . . 

4. Rev. Giles H. Mandeville, D.D. 

5. Rev. T. T. Eaton, D.D 

6. Rev. George Douglas, D.D. . . . 

7. Rev. S. H. Kellogg, D.D 

8. Rev. H. A. Stimson, D.D 

9. Rev. Burdett Hart, D.D 

10. Rev. Thomas A. Hoyt, D.D. . . . 

11. Rev. D. D. Demarest, D.D. . . . 

12. Rev. F. Bottome, D.D 

13. Rev. J. E. Twitchell, D.D. . . . 

14. Rev. George P, Hays, D.D.,. . . . 

15. Rev. Alexander McKenzie, D.D. 

16. Rev. R. R. Booth, D.D 

17. Rev. W. W. Clark 

18. Rev. Peter Stryker, D.D 

19. Rev. A, J. Rowland, D.D 

20. Rev. E. N. Potter, D.D 

2k. Rev. G. C. Baldwin, D.D 

22. Rev. T. B. M 7 Leod, D.D 

23. Rev. John Howl and 

24. Rev. Adolph Saphir 



Protestant - Episcopal Church of the 
Incarnation, New York. 

Secretary Board of Education, Re- 
formed Church in America. 

Walnut Street Baptist Church, Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

President Methodist College, Mon- 
treal, Canada. 

St. James Square Presbyterian 
Church, Toronto, Canada. 

Pilgrim Congregational Church, St. 
Louis, Mo. 

First Fairhaven Congregational 
Church, New Haven, Conn. 

Chambers Presbyterian Church, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Professor of Pastoral Theology and 
Sacred Rhetoric, Reformed Church 
Seminar}', New Brunswick, N. J. 

Asbury Methodist-Episcopal Church, 

New York. 
D wight Place Congregational Church, 

New Haven, Conn. 
Second Presbyterian Church, Kansas 
City, Mo. 

Shepard Memorial Congregational 
Church, Cambridge, Mass. 

Rutgers Presbyterian Church, New 
York. 

Reformed Church in America, now 
laboring as an evangelist. 

Andrew Presbyterian Church, Minne- 
apolis, Minn. 

Franklin Square Baptist Church, Bal- 
timore, Md. 

President Hobart College, Geneva, 
N. Y. 

Formerly Pastor First Baptist Church, 
Troy, N. Y. 

Clinton Ave. Congregational Church, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Congregational Missionary at Guadala- 
jara, Mexico. 

Presbyterian Minister, London, Eng. 



370 



Index of Authors. 



25. Rev. Daniel Bliss, D.D President Syrian Protestant College, 

Beirut, Syria. 

26. Rev. S. H. Virgin, D.D Pilgrim Congregational Church, Har- 

lem, N. Y. 

27. Rev. Josiah Tyler Congregational Missionary Umsun- 

duzi, Verulam, South Africa. 

28. Rev. H. M. Sanders Baptist Minister, recently Pastor of 

Forty - Second Street Baptist 
Church, New York. 

29. Rev. R. M. Offord Minister in the Reformed Church in 

America, and one of the editors of 
the New York " Observer." 



1. Rt. Rev. T. M. Clark, D.D. . . . 

2. Rev. H. M. Ladd, D.D 

3. Rev. E. P. Ingersoll 

4. Rev. T. L. Cuyler, D.D 

5. Rev. John Newton, D.D 

6. Rev. D. R. Frazer, D.D 

7. Rev. Myron Adams, D.D 

8. Rev. Robert F. Sample, D.D. . . 

9. Rev. Wayland Hoyt, D.D. . . . 
10. Rev. C. F. Deems, D.D 



Protestant-Episcopal Bishop of Rhode 

Island. 

Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, 
Cleveland, O. 

Congregational Church of the Puri- 
tans, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Lafayette Ave. Presbyterian Church, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Presbyterian Missionary, Lahore, 
India. 

First Presbyterian Church, Newark, 
N.J. 

Plymouth Congregational Church, 
Rochester, N. Y. 

Twenty-Third Street Presbyterian 
Church, New York . 

Memorial Baptist Church, Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Church of the Strangers, New York. 



11. Rev. N. \V. Conkling, D.D, . . 

12. Rev. J. L. Amekman, D.D. . . . 

13. Rev. W. R. Huntington, D.D. 

14. Rev. David Gregg, D.D 



Minister in the Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 
Missionary of the Reformed Church in 

America, Professor in Theological 

School, Tokio, Japan. 
Grace Protestant-Episcopal Church, 

New York. 
Park Street Congregational Church, 

Boston, Mass. 



Index of Authors. 371 



15. Rev. E. Trumbull Lee 

16. Rev. J. B. Remensnyder 

17 Rev. W. G. Blaikie, D.D 

18. Rev. I. E. Dwinell, D.D 

19. Rev. A. T. Pierson, D.D 

20. Rev. Rudolf Koenig 

21. Rev. G. R. Leavitt, D.D 

22. Rev. J. E. Cookman, D.D 

23. Rev. C. H. Parkhurst, D.D. . . . 

24. Rev. Stephen Yerkes, D.D. . . . 

25. Rev. Robert Watts, D.D 

26. Rev. H. M. MacCracken, D.D. . 

27. Rev. H. M. Parsons, D.D 

28. Rev. Cornelius Brett 

29. Rev. George Burrowes 

30. Rev. W. P. Breed, D.D 

31. Rev. Goyn Talmage, D.D 



First Presbyterian Church, Pueblo, 
Col. 

St. James Lutheran Church, New 
York. 

Professor Free Church College, Edin- 
burgh, Scotland 

Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral 
Theology, Pacific Theological Sem- 
inary, Oakland, Cal. 

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Free Church of Scotland, Budapest, 
Hungary. 

Plymouth Congregational Church, 

Cleveland, O 
Twenty-Fourth Street Methodist-Epis- 
copal Church, New York. 
Madison Square Presbyterian Church, 

New York 
Professor of Biblical Literature, Exe- 

getical Theology, &c, Danville 

Theological Seminary, Danville, 

Ky. 

Professor Belfast College, Belfast, Ire- 
land. 

Presbyterian Church, and Vice Chan- 
cellor of the University of New 
York. 

Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, 
Canada. 

Reformed Church, Bergen, N. J. 

Professor Greek and Hebrew Exege- 
sis, San Francisco Theological Sem- 
inary, San Francisco, Cal. 
Emeritus, West Spruce Street Presby- 
terian Church, Philadelphia, and 
President of the Board of Publica- 
tion and Sabbath-School Work. 
Reformed Church in America, now 
honorably retired. 



372 



Index of Authors, 



1. Rev. Byron Sunderland, D.D. . First Presbyterian Church, Washing- 

ton, D. C, 

2. Rev. John H. Denison, D.D. ... Williams College Church, Williams- 

town, Mass, 

3. Rev. Edward L. Stoddard, Ph. D. St. John's Protestant - Episcopal 

Church, Jersey City Heights, 
N. J. 

4. Rev. J. G. Vose, D.D Beneficent Congregational Church, 

Providence, R. I. 

5. Rev. William Harvey United Presbyterian Missionary, Cairo, 

Egypt. ^ 

6. Rev. Elias Riggs, D.D Presbyterian Missionary at Constanti- 

nople, Turkey. 

7. Rev. J. M. Allis Presbyterian Missionary, Santiago, 

Chili, S. A. 

8. Rev. David Cole, D.D Reformed Church, Yonkers, N. Y. 

9. Rev. R. R. Meredith, D.D. ... Tompkins Avenue Congregational 

Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

10. Rev. Alexander Miller St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 

Sydney, New South Wales. 

11. Rev. W. H. Clark Second Reformed Church, Philadel- 

phia, Pa. 

12. Rev. Alexander Grant Baptist Book Rooms, Toronto, 

Canada. 

13. Rev. G. D. Boardman, D.D. . . . First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, 

Pa. 

14. Rev. W. V. Kelley Bedford Avenue Methodist-Episcopal 

Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

15. Rev. J. M. Worrall, D.D Thirteenth Street Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

16. Rev. G. S. Bishop Reformed Church, Orange, N. J. 

17. Rev. J. A. Hodge, D.D Presbyterian Church, Hartford, Conn. 

18. Rev. F. B. Meyer Regents Park Baptist Church, Lon- 

don, England. 

19. Rev. L. F. Stearns, D.D. .... . Professor Systematic Theology, Ban- 

gor Theological Seminary, Bangor, 
Me. 

20. Rev. O. J. Hardin Presbyterian Missionary, lately at 

Tripoli, Syria. 



Index of Authors. 



373 



21. Rev. A. P. Happer, D.D President of the Presbyterian College, 

Canton, China. 

22. Rev. K. M. Fenwick Zion Congregational Church, and 

formerly Professor Congregational 
College, Montreal, Canada. 

23. Rev. S. B. Rossiter, D.D North Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

24. Rev. Robert Shindler Baptist Minister, Addlestone, Surrey, 

England. 

25. Rev. Joel Swartz, D.D Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, Pa. 

26. Rev. C. C. Tiffany, D.D Zion Protestant-Episcopal Church, 

New York. 

27. Rt. Rev. S. D. Ferguson, D D. . . American Protestant-Episcopal Mis- 

sionary Bishop, of Cape Palmas, 
Liberia, West Africa. 

28. Rev. J. E. Rankin, D.D Congregational Church, Orange Val- 

ley, N. J. 

29. Rev. H. H. Jessup, D.D Presbyterian Missionary, Beirut, 

Syria. 

30. Rev. F. N. Zabriskie . • Reformed Church in America, at one 

time Associate Editor of the " Chris- 
tian Intelligencer," resides at 
Princeton, New Jersey. 



1. Rev. T. S. Hastings, D.D President, and Professor of Sacred 

Rhetoric, Union Theological Semi- 
nary, New York. 

2. Rev. E. A. Reed Second Congregational Church, Hol- 

yoke, Mass. 

3. Rev. W. N. Chambers Congregational Missionary at Erz- 

room, Persia. 

4. Rev. J. J. Bullock, D.D Southern Presbyterian Minister, Wash- 

ington, D. C. 

5. Rev. A. J. Gordon, D.D Clarendon Avenue Baptist Church, 

Boston, Mass. 

6. Rev. J. H. Barrows, D.D First Church, Chicago, 111. 

7. Rev. Thomas Davies, D.D The College Haverfordwest, Wales. 

8. Rev. G. D. Armstrong, D.D. . . . First Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, 

Va. 



374 



Index of Authors. 



9. Rev. C. A. Stoddard, D.D. . . . 

10. Rev. J. V. N. Talmage, D.D. . . 

11. Rev. J. M. King, D.D 

12. Rev. Adolph Spaeth, D.D 

13. Rev. P. D. Van Cleef, D.D. . . . 

14. Rev. Smith Baker, D.D 

15. Rev. J. F. Riggs 

16. Rev. C. C. Clever 

17. Rev. D. C Marquis 

18. Rev. Jacob Fry, D.D 

19. Rev. F. J. Newton 

20. Rev. J. G. Lansing, D.D 

21. Rev. E. B. Coe, D.D 

22. Rev. W. M. Paxton, D.D 

23. Rev. S. M. Hamilton, D.D. . . . 

24. Rev. Merrett Hulburd, D.D. . 

25. Rev. G. R. Brackett, D.D. . . . 

26. Rev. W. J. R. Taylor, D.D. . . . 

27. Rev. E. O. Guerrant, D.D. . . . 

28. Rev. G. A. Tewksbury, D.D. . . . 

29. Rev. A. J. Brown, D.D. ...... 



Editor New York " Observer." 

Missionary of the Reformed Church, 
America, at Amory, China. 

Park Avenue Methodist- Episcopal 
Church, New York. 

Lutheran Pastor Philadelphia, Pa., 
and Associate Editor " Lutheran 
Church Review." 

Wayne Street Reformed Church, Jer- 
sey City, N. J., and Stated Clerk of 
General Synod. 

First Congregational Church, Lowell, 
Mass. 

Reformed Church, Bergen Point, N. J. 

German Reformed Church, Baltimore, 
Md. 

Professor New Testament Literature 
and Exegesis, McCormick Theolog- 
ical Seminary, Chicago. 

Lutheran Pastor, Reading, Pa. 

Presbyterian Missionary, Ferozepur, 
India. 

Professor of Old Testament Languages 
and Exegesis, in the Reformed 
Church. 

Reformed Collegiate Church, New 
York. 

Professor of Ecclesiastical, Homileti- 
cal, and Pastoral Theology, Prince- 
ton Seminary, New Jersey. 

Scotch Presbyterian Church, New 
York. 

Trinity Methodist-Episcopal Church, 
New York. 

Second Presbyterian Church, Charles- 
ton, S. C 

Clinton Avenue Reformed Church, 
Newark, N. J. 

Presbyterian Church, Troy, Ky. 

Pilgrim Congregational Church, Cam- 

bridgeport, Mass. 
Lutheran Pastor, Blountville, Tenn. 



Ixdex of Authors. 



375 



30. Rev. \V. W. Newton, D.D Protestant-Episcopal Church, Pitts- 

field, Mass. 

31. Rev. W. E. Locke Congregational Missionary, Philipopo- 

lis, Bulgaria. 



Hftme. 



1. Rt. Rev. E. G. Ingham 

2. Rev. A. H. Plumb, D.D 

3. Rev. E. P. Terhune, D.D. 

4. Rev. J. B. Stratton, D.D 

5. Rev. S. M. Hopkins, D.D 

6. Rev. J. H. Ecob, D.D 

7. Rev. Harvey Glass, D.D 

8. Rev. H. M. Baird, D.D 

9. Rev. J. T. Smith, D.D 

10. Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D.D. . 

11. Rev. A. W. Pitzer, D.D 

12. Rev. W. J. Harsha 

13. Rev. G. N. Boardman, D.D. ... 

14. Rev. J. W. Neil, D.D 

15. Rev. J. M. P. Otts, D.D 

16. Rev. B. C. Henry 

17. Rev. Michael Burnham, D.D. . . 



Bishop of Sierra Leone, Africa (Estab- 
lished Church of England). 

Walnut Ave. Congregational Church, 
Boston, Mass. 

Williamsburgh Reformed Church, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Presbyterian Church, Natchez, Miss. 

Professor of Ecclesiastical History and 
Church Polity, Theological Semi- 
nary, Auburn, N. Y. 

Second Presbyterian Church, Albany, 
N. Y. 

Presbyterian Minister, Danville, Ky. 

Professor of the Greek Language and 
Literature, University of New York. 

Central Presbyterian Church, Balti- 
more, Md. 

Professor Ursinus College and Semi- 
nary of German Reformed Church, 
Collegeville, Pa. 

Central Presbyterian Church, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

First Presbyterian Church, Omaha, 
Neb. 

Professor Systematic Theology, Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Presbyterian Church, San Antonio, 
Texas. 

Presbyterian Church, Talladega, Ala. 

Presbyterian Missionary, Canton, 
China. 

First Congregational Church, Spring- 
field, Mass. 



376 Index of Authors. 



18. Rev. Frederick Merrick Methodist-Episcopal Church, Dela- 

ware, O. 

19. Rev. J. M. Ludlow, D.D Presbyterian Church, East Orange, 

N. J. 

20. Rev. J. W. Lupton, D.D Presbyterian Church, Clarksvilie, 

Tenn. 

21. Rev. G. C. Noyes, D.D Presbyterian Church, Evanston, 111. 

22. Rev. F. D. Power, D.D. Church of the Disciples, Washing- 

ton, D. C. 

23. Rev. S. M. Woodbridge, D.D. . . Professor of Ecclesiastical History and 

Government in the Reformed 
Church Seminary, New Brunswick, 
N. J. 

24. Rev. S. J. Niccolls, D.D Second Presbyterian Church, St. 

Louis, Mo. 

25. Rev. W. N. McVickar, D.D. ... Holy Trinity Protestant-Episcopal 

Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 

26. Rev. L. S. Handley, D.D First Presbyterian Church, Birming- 

ham, Ala. 

27. Rev. B. K. Pierce, D.D Methodist-Episcopal Church, New- 

ton, Mass., formerly Editor " Zion's 
Herald," Boston, Mass. 

28. Rev. C. Cuthbert Hall ..... First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, 

N. Y. 

29. Rev. Josiah Strong, D.D Secretary Evangelical Alliance, New 

York. 

30. Rev. R. P. Kerr, D.D First Presbvterian Church, Richmond, 

Va. 



x. Rev. John Hall, D.D Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, 

and Chancellor of the University of 
New York. 

2. Rev. T. H. Capp Church of Disciples, St. John, New 

Brunswick. 

3. Rev. R. M. Sommerville . . . . Second Reformed Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

4. Rev. Robert Moffett Church of Disciples, Cleveland, O. 

5. Rev. H. M. Booth, D.D Presbyterian Church, Englewood, 

N. J. 

6. Rev. David Trumbull, D.D. . . . Editor, Valparaiso, Chili. 



Index of Authors. 



377 



7. Rev. F. W. E. Peschau, D.D. 

8. Rev. M. B. Riddle, D.D 

9. Rev. T. N. Hasselquist, D.D. . . 

10. Rev. J. R. Wilson, D.D 

11. Rt. Rev. W. R. Nicholson, D.D. 

12. Rev. S. D. Alexander, D.D. . . . 

13. Rev. R. S. MacArthur, D.D. . . 

14. Rev. Henry Blodget, D.D. . . . 

15. Rev. W. V. V. Mabon, D.D. ... 

16. Rev. D. E. Klopp 

17. Rev. J. H. M Knox, D.D 

18. Rev. B. B. Tyler, D.D 

19. Rev. M. D. Hoge, D.D 

20. Rev. J. S. Kieffer, D.D 

21. Rev. B. Bausman, D.D. ..... . 

22. Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, D.D. . . 

23. Rev. W. F. V. Bartlett, D.D. . 

24. Rev. J. L. Nevius, D.D 

25. Rev. J. I. Good ; D.D 

26. Rev. J. F, Elder, D.D 



Lutheran Church, Wilmington, N. C. 

Professor New Testament Literature 
and Exegesis, Western Theological 
Seminary, Allegheny, Pa. 

Lutheran Church, Rock Island, 111. 

Professor South-Western University, 
Stated Clerk Southern Presbyte- 
rian General Assembly, Clarksville, 
Tenn. 

Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal 
Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Phillips Presbyterian Church, New 
York, and Stated Clerk Presbytery 
of New York. 

Calvary Baptist Church, New York. 

Congregational Missionary, Pekin, 
China. 

Professor of Systematic Theology 

Reformed Church Seminary, New 

Brunswick, N. J. 
Trinity German Reformed Church, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 
President Lafayette College, Easton, 

Pa. 

Church of the Disciples, New York. 

Second Presbyterian Church, Rich- 
mond, Va. 

German Reformed Church, Hagars- 
town, Md. 

German Reformed Church, Reading, 
Pa. 

Free Church, Glasgow, Scotland. 

First Presbyterian Church. Lexington, 
Ky. 

Presbyterian Missionary, Chefoo, 
China. 

German Reformed Church, Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Baptist Church of the Epiphany, New 
York. 



378 Index of Authors. 



27. Rev. Donald Crawford Church of the Disciples, New Glas- 

gow, P. E. Island, Canada. 

28. Rev. David Van Horne, D.D. . . German Reformed Church, Tiffin, O. 

29. Rev. Andrew Longacre, D.D. . . Methodist- Episcopal Church, Balti- 

more, Md. 

30. Rev. J. C K. Milligan First Reformed Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

31. Rev. George Washburn, D.D. . President Robert College, Constanti- 

nople, Turkey. 



1. Rev. H. G. Underwood Presbyterian Missionary, Seoul, Corea. 

2. Rev. S. H. Greene, D.D Calvary Baptist Church, Washington, 

D. C. 

3. Rev. F. W. Conrad, D.D Editor "Lutheran Observer," Phila- 

delphia, Pa. 

4. Rev. W. Ormiston, D.D Minister in the Reformed Church, New 

York. 

5. Rev. W. Adams, D.D First Presbyterian Church, Augusta, 

Ga. 

6. Rev. F. H. Marling Emmanuel Congregational Church, 

Montreal, Canada. 

7. Rev. Robert H. Nall, D.D. . . . First Presbyterian Church, Fort 

Worth, Texas. 

8. Rev. James Chambers Calvary Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

9. Rev. T. Davis Ewing, D.D. . . . President Parsons College, Fairfield* 

la. 

10. Rev. M. R. Vincent, D.D Professor of Sacred Literature, Union 

Theological Seminary, New York. 

11. Rev. G. F. Krotel, D.D Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New 

York. 

12. Rev. A. A. Reinke Moravian Church, New York. 

13. Rev. Wm. Caven, D.D Principal of Knox Presbyterian Col- 

lege, Toronto, Canada. 

14. Rev. Anson P. Atterbury .... Park Presbyterian Church, New York. 

15. Rev. J. M. Haldeman ...... First Baptist Church, New York. 



Index of Authors. 



379 



16 Rev. Charles H. Hall, D.D. . . Holy Trinity Protestant - Episcopal 

Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

17. Rev. W. F. Junkin, D.D Presbyterian Church, Montclair, N. J. 

18. Rev. Isaac Errett Church of Disciples, Cincinnati, Ohio, 

and Editor of the " Christian 
Standard." 

19. Rev. F. L. Ferguson . Prytania Presbyterian Church, New 

Orleans, La. 

20. Rev. W. N. Searles Washington Heights Methodist- Epis- 

copal Church, New York. 

21. Rev. J. W. Rosebro Tabb Street Presbyterian Church, 

Petersburgh, Va. 

22. Rev. Wolcott Calkins, D.D. . . Congregational Church, Newton, 

Mass. 

23. Rev. I. S. McElroy Presbyterian Church, Mount Sterling, 

Ky, 

24. Rev. Wm. Bayard Craig Church of the Disciples, Denver, Col. 

25. Rev. D. C. Hughes Trinity Baptist Church, New York. 

26. Rev. H. W. Warren, D.D Bishop in the Methodist-Episcopal 

Church. 

27. Rev Chas. L. Thompson, D.D. . Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, 

and Moderator of Presbyterian Gen- 
eral Assembly, 1888, New York. 

28. Rev. E. H. Barnett, D.D First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, 

Ga. 

29. Rev. Halsey Moore Lexington Avenue Baptist Church, 

New York. 

30. Rev. J. R. Burgett, D.D Government Street Presbyterian 

Church, Mobile, Ala. 

31. Rev. R. K. Smoot, D.D Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas. 



September. 



1. Rev. Henry M. Field, D.D. . . . Presbyterian Minister, Editor "New 

York Evangelist." 

2. Rev. W. W. Page New York Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

3. Rev. Robert W. Jones ...... North Methodist-Episcopal Church, 

New York. 

4. Rev Henry A. Powell Lee Avenue Congregational Church, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 



380 Index of Authors. 



5. Rev. David W. Frazier 

6. Rev. T. Chalmers Easton, D.D. 

7. Rev. J. R. Kerr, D.D 

8. Rev. Carlos Martyn 

9. Rev. J. Elmendorf, D.D 

10. Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, D.D. . . 

11. Rev. W. N. Scott, D.D 

12. Rev. James S. Chadwick 

13. Rev. T. D. Witherspoon, D.D. . 

14. Rev. Henry E. Jacobs, D.D. . . . 

15. Rev. L. A. Crandall 

16. Rev. H. T. McEwen 

17. Rev. Lewis Francis 

18. Rev. John J. Brouner 

19. Rev. Roderick Terry, D.D. . . . 

20. Rev. John C. Bliss, D.D. . .... 

21. Rev. J. S. Ramsay 

22. Rev. Chas. W. Fritts, D.D. . . . 

23. Rev. C. P. Masden, D.D. 

24. Rev. Horace L. Singleton .... 

25. Rev. D. R. Miller 

26. Rev. J. A. M. Chapman, D.D. . . 



Presbyterian Missionary, Greenville, 

Sinoe, Africa. 
First Reformed Church, Newark, 

N.J. 

Fourth Presbyterian Church, New 
York. 

Bloomingdale Reformed Church, New 
York. 

Harlem Collegiate Reformed Church, 

New York. 
Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Presbyterian Church, Galveston, 

Texas. 

Bedford Street Methodist- Episcopal 

Church, New York. 
First Presbyterian Church, Louisville, 

Ky. 

President Lutheran Theological Semi- 
nary, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Twenty-Third Street Baptist Church, 
New York. 

Fourteenth Presbyterian Church, New 
York. 

Reformed Church, Greenpoint, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 
North Baptist Church, New York. 

South Reformed Church, New York. 

Washington Heights Presbyterian 

Church, New York. 
Harlem Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

Reformed Church, Fishkill on the 

Hudson, N. Y. 
Madison Avenue Methodist-Episcopal 

Church, New York. 
Member of New York Presbytery. 

United Brethren Church, Dayton, 
Ohio. 

Methodist-Episcopal Church, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 



Index of Authors. 381 



27. Rev. Wm. H. Roberts, D.D. 

28. Rev. John D. Wells, D.D. . 

29. Rev. Edward T. Horn, D.D. 

30. Rev. A. H. Crosbie 



Professor Practical Theology, Lane 
Theological Seminary, and Stated 
Clerk of General Assembly, Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. 

South Third Street Presbyterian 
Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Lutheran Church, Charleston, S. C. 

Harlem United Presbyterian Church , 
New York. 



©ctoier. 



1. Rt. Rev. F. D. Huntington, D.D. 

2. Rev. C. R. Hemphill, D.D. . . . 

3. Rev. O. H. Tiffany, D.D 

4. Rev. C. Schenck 

5. Rev. L. W. Munhall, D.D. . . . 

6. Rev. W. B. Jennings 

7. Rev. E. D. Kephart, D. D 

8. Rev. C. W. D. Bridgman, D.D. . 

9. Rev. T. A. Nelson, D.D 

10. Rev. W. Gladden, D.D 

11. Rev. J. H. Reading 

12. Rev. Brady E. Backus, D.D. . . . 

13. Rev. Jesse E. Forbes 

14. Rev. J. W. Hott, D.D 

15. Rev. E. Humphries 

16. Rev. John Gaston, D.D 



Protestant-Episcopal Bishop of Central 
New York, Syracuse, N. Y. 

Second Presbyterian Church, Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

St. James Methodist - Episcopal 

Church, New York. 
Trinity Pveformed Church, Plainfield, 

N.J. 

Evangelist Methodist - Episcopal 
Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 

First Presbyterian Church, Macon, 
Ga. 

Bishop of the United Brethren Church, 

Toledo, la. 
Madison Avenue Baptist Church, New 

York. 

Memorial Presbyterian Church, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

First Congregational Church, Colum- 
bus, Ohio. 

Presbyterian Missionary at Gaboon, 
Africa. 

Protestant-Episcopal Church of the 

Holy Apostles, New York. 
Adams Memorial Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 
Editor ' 1 Religious Telescope ' ? ( United 

Brethren), Dayton, O. 
First Primitive Methodist Church, 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
First Reformed Church, Passaic, N. J. 



382 



Index of Authors. 



17. Rev. J. H. Hoadley Faith Presbyterian Church. New 

York. 

iS. Rev. Geo. S. Chambers Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Har- 

19. Rev. J. B. Hamilton Simpson Methodist-Episcopal Church, 

Brooklyn, X. V. 

20. Rev. H. C. Riggs, D.D Congregational Church. Binghamton, 

X. Y. 

21. Rev. A. H. Clap?, D.D Secretary Congregational^ Home Mis- 

22. Rev. G. D. Hulst South Bushwick Avenue Reformed 

Church, Brooklyn, X. Y. 

23. Rev. G. Alexander, D.D University Place Presbyterian Church 

New York. 

24. Rev. A. R. Benton Church of Disciples, Indianapolis, 

Ind. 

25. Rev. J. Weaver, D.D Bishop of the United Brethren Church, 

Dayton, O. 

26. Rev. J. R. Paxton, D.D West Presbyterian Church, New York. 

27. Rev. W. Mancheb Reformed Church, Hoboken, N. J. 

28. Rev. P. F. Leavens Presbyterian Church, Passaic, X. J. 

29. Rev. J. Witherspoon, D.D. . . . First Presbyterian Church, Xashville, 

Tenn. 

30. Rev. H. X. Cobb, D.D Secretary Board of Foreign Missions, 

Reformed Church in America. 

31. Rev. E. D. Morris, D.D Professor Systematic Theology, Lane 

Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 



1. Rev. J. M. Thoburn, D.D Bishop Methodist-Episcopal Church, 

India. 

2. Rev. John B. Drurv. D.D Editor ''Christian Intelligencer," New 

York. 

3. Rev. W. J. Shuey Publisher of the " Religious Tele- 

scope," Minister United Brethren. 
Dayton, O. 

4. Rev, W. H. Thomas Xew England Congregational Church. 

Brooklyn. X. Y. 



Index of Authors. 



383 



5. Rev. S. F. Hotchkin St. Luke's Protestant-Episcopal 

Church, Philadelphia, Pa. 

6. Rev. J. L. Caldwell First Presbyterian Church, Bowling 

Green, Ky. 

7. Rev. W. H. Parmly, D.D Baptist Church, Jersey City, N. J. 

8. Rev. E. A. Bulk ley, D.D Presbyterian Church, Rutherford, 

N.J. 

9. Rev. D. Berger United Brethren Church, Dayton, O. 

10. Rev. A. W. Halsey Spring Street Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

11. Rev. P. T. Pockman First Reformed Church, New Bruns- 

wick, N. J. 

12. Rev. R. W. Kidd Seventh Avenue United Presbyterian 

Church, New York. 

13. Rev. J. P. Landis, D.D Professor of Systematic Theology and 

Hebrew, Union Biblical Seminary, 
Dayton, O. 

14. Rev. J. L. Scudder Congregational Tabernacle Church, 

Jersey City, N. J. 

15. Rev. A. W. Cowles, D.D President Female College, Elmira, 

N. Y. 

16. Rev. J. H. Dulles, Jr Librarian Theological Seminary, 

Princeton, N. J. 

17. Rev. G. H. Smyth, D.D Harlem Collegiate Church, New York. 

18. Rev. J. Lester Wells Bethany Presbyterian Church, New- 

ark, N. J. 

19. Rev. W. S. Bowman, D.D Lutheran Church, Savannah, Ga. 

20. Rev. M. H. Bixby, D.D Cranston Baptist Church, Providence, 

R. I. 

21. Rev. John Chester, D.D Metropolitan Presbyterian Church, 

Washington, D. C. 

22. Rev. J. Ford Sutton, D.D Minister in the Presbyterian Church, 

New York. 

23. Rev. M. H. Pogson Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, New 

York. 

24 Rev. D. O. Davies, D.D First Presbyterian Church, Hender- 
son, Ky. 

25. Rev. J. M. Trible Church of Disciples, Buffalo, N. Y. 

26. Rev. William T. Findley, D.D. . Central Presbyterian Church, Newark, 

N. J. 



3§4 



Index of Authors. 



27. Rev. John Humpstone, D.D. . . 

28. Rev. R. H. Howard 

29. Rev. A. C. Wedekind, D.D. . . 

30. Rev. G. S. Payson 



Immanuel Baptist Church, Brooklyn. 
N. Y. 

Methodist- Episcopal Church, Towns- 
end, Mass. 

St. John's Lutheran Church, New 
York. 

Mount Washington Presbyterian 
Church, New York. 



1. Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D. . . . Bishop of New York, Protestant-Epis- 

copal Church, New York. 

2. Rev. D. Waters, D.D North Reformed Church, Newark, 

N.J. 

3. Rev. W. L. Phillips ........ Sumraerfieid Methodist-Episcopal 

Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

4. Rev. D. Wortman, D D Reformed Church, Saugerties, N. Y. 

5 Rev. J. R. Fisher Presbyterian Church, South Orange, 

N.J. 

6. Rev. L. D. Calkins Trinity Presbyterian Church, Brook- 

lyn, N. Y. 

7. Rev. I. J. Lansing Salem Street Congregational Church, 

Worcester, Mass. 

8. Rev. W. W. Atterbury, D.D. . . Secretary of the Sabbath Committee, 

New York. 

9. Rev. C. R. Barnes Methodist-Episcopal Church, Hobo- 

ken, N. J. 

10. Rev. J. C. French, D.D Park Presbyterian Church, Newark, 

N.J. 

11. Rev. J. E C. Sawyer Methodist-Episcopal Church, Pitts- 

field, Mass. 

12. Rev. E. C. Moore Westminster Presbyterian Church, 

Yonkers, N. Y. 

13. Rev. R. H. Fulton, D.D Northminster Presbyterian Church, 

Philadelphia.. Pa. 

14. Rev. L. C Vass, D.D Presbyterian Church, New Bern, N. C. 

15. Rev. A. Erdman, D.D South Street Presbyterian Church, 

Morristown, N. J. 

16. Rev. E. H. Harding, D.D Presbyterian Church, Graham, N. C. 

17. Rev. John Reid, D.D First Presbyterian Church, Yonkers, 

N. Y. 



Index of Authors. 



385 



iS. Rev. O. A. Kingsbury . . 

19. Rev. Robert Lowry, D.D. 

20. Rev. J. C. Van Deventer 



Editor 14 Illustrated Christian Weekly," 

New York. 
Baptist Minister, Plainfield, N. J. 

Reformed Church, Nayack, N. Y. 



21. Rev. R. S. Campbell, D.D First Presbyterian Church, St. Joseph, 

Mo. 

22. Rev. D. Parker Morgan Protestant-Episcopal Church of the 

Heavenly Rest, New York. 

23. Rev. H. C Alexander, D.D. . . . Professor of Biblical Literature and 

Interpretation of the Old Testa- 
ment, Union Theological Seminary, 
Hampden, Sidney, Va. 

24. Rev. T. Ralston Smith, D.D. . . Westminster Presbyterian Church, 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

25. Rev. C H. Spurgeon Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, 

England. 

26. Rev. Abbott E. Kittredge, D.D. Madison Avenue Reformed Church, 

New York. 

27. Rev. Henry M. Dexter Editor " The Congregationalist," Bos- 

ton, Mass. 

28. Rev. J. H. Whitehead North Reformed Church, Passaic, 

N.J. 

29. Rev. W. C. Stitt Minister in the Presbyterian Church, 

and Secretary American Seamen's 
Friend Society. 

30. Rev. G. W. F. Birch, D.D Bethany Presbyterian Church, New 

York. 

31. Rt. Rev. W. W. Niles, D.D. . . . Protestant-Episcopal Bishop of New 

Hampshire, Concord, N. H. 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF NAMES. 



Adams, Myron Mar. 7 

Adams, W Aug. 5 

Aikman, Wm Jan. 7 

Alexander, G Oct. 23 

Alexander, H C. ... Dec. 23 

Alexander, S. D July 12 

Allis, J. M Apr. 7 

Amerman, James L. . . . Mar. 12 

Armstrong, Geo. D. . . . May 8 

Atterbury, Anson P. . . Aug. 14 

Atterbury, W. W. . . . Dec. 8 

Backus, B. E Oct. 12 

Bainbridge, W. F. ... Jan. 10 

Baird, H. M June 8 

Baker, Smith May 14 

Baldwin, Geo. C. . . . . Feb. 21 

Barnes, C. R Dec. 9 

Barnett, E. H Aug. 28 

Barrows, J. H May 6 

Bartlett, W. F. V. . . . July 23 

Bausman, B July 21 

Bell, Chas. D Feb. 1 

Benton, A. R Oct. 24 

Berger, D Nov. 9 

Birch, G. W. F Dec. 30 

Bishop, Geo. S Apr. 16 

Bixby, M. H Nov. 20 

Blaikie, W. G Mar. 17 

Bliss, Daniel Feb. 25 

Bliss, John C Sept. 20 

Blodget, Henry B. . . . July 14 

Boardman, Geo. Dana . . Apr. 13 

Boardman, Geo. N. . . . June 13 

Boardman, Sam. W. . . . Jan. 30 

Bomberger, J. H. A. . . . June 10 



Bonar, Andrew A. . . . July 22 

Booth, Henry M July 5 

Booth, Robt. R Feb. 16 

Bottome, F Feb. 12 

Bowman, W. S Nov. 19 

Brackett, Gilbert R. . . May 25 

Bradford, Amory H. . . Jan. 4 

Breed, W. P Mar. 30 

Brett, Cornelius .... Mar. 28 

Bridgman, C. W. D. . . . Oct. 8 

Bright, J. S Jan. 23 

Brooks, Arthur .... Feb. 3 

Brouner, John J Sept. 18 

Brown, Abel J May 29 

Brown, Hubert W. . . . Jan. 24 

Bulkley, E. A Nov. 8 

Bullock, J. J May 4 

Burgett, J. R Aug. 30 

Burnham, Michael . . . June 17 

Burrage, Henry S. . . . Jan. 8 

Burrowes, Geo Mar. 29 

Caldwell, J. L Nov. 6 

Calkins, L. D Dec. 6 

Calkins, Wolcott . . . Aug. 22 

Campbell, R. S Dec. 21 

Capp, T. H July 2 

Caven, Wm Aug. 13 

Chadwick, J. S Sept. 12 

Chamberlain, L. T. . . . Sept. 10 

Chambers, G. S Oct. 18 

Chambers, James .... Aug. 8 

Chambers, T. W Jan. 2 

Chambers, W. N May 3 

Chapman, J. A. M. . . . Sept. 26 

Chester, John Nov. 21 



388 Alphabetical Index of Names. 







Field, H. M. ... 


Sept i 






Findley, W. T. . . . 








Fisher, J. R. . . 


Dec. 5 


Clark, W. W. . . . 








Clever, Conrad . . 


. . May 16 






Cobb, H. N. . . . . 




Frazer, D. R. . . . 








Frazier, David W. . 


Sept. 5 


Cole, David .... 


. . Apr. 8 


French, J. C. 




Conk ling, N. W. . . 


. . Mar. ii 


Fritts, Chas. W. . . 


Sept. 22 


Conrad, F. W. . . . 


. . Aug. 3 




May 18 


Cookman, John E 


. . Mar. 22 


Fulton, R. H. . . . 










Crafts, Wilbur F. . 


. Jan. 2 S 










Gaston, J 


. Oct. 16 


C RANDALL, L. A. . . . 


. Sept. 15 


Gladden, W. . . . 


. . Oct. 10 


Crawford, Donald . 


. July 27 














Crosby, Howard . . 


• Jan. 5 




Mav 5 














Greene, S. H. . . . 


Aug. 2 










Dana, M. McG. . . 


. . Jan. 15 










Guerrant, E. O. . . 


May 27 


Davies, Thomas . . 


May 7 




Deems, CF 












Haldeman, J. M. . 


Aug. 15 


Denison, J. H. . . . 


. Apr. 2 






Dexter. H. M. . . . 


. . Dec. 27 








Feb. 6 


















Hamilton, J. B. . . . 


. Oct. 19 




. Mar. 18 


Hamilton, S. M. 


. May 23 


















Easton, T. C. . . . 


. . Sept. 6 


Hardin, O. J. ... 




Eaton, T. T. ... 


Feb. 5 


Harding, E. H. . . 


. Dec. 16 


Ecob, J. H 




Harsha, W. J. . . . 


June 12 


















Erdman, Albert . . 


. Dec 15 


Hasselquist, T. N. . 


. July 9 










Ewing, T. D. ... 


. Aug. 9 


Hays, Geo. P 


. Feb. 14 


















Fenwick, K. M. . . 


. Apr. 22 






Ferguson, S. D. . . . 


. Apr. 27 






Ferguson, F. L. . . 


. Aug. 19 







Alphabetical Index of Names. 389 



Hoge, M. D July 19 

Hopkins, S June 5 

Horn, E. T Sept. 29 

Hotchkin, S. F Nov. 5 

Hott, J. W Oct. 14 

Howard, R. H Nov. 28 

Howl and, J Feb. 23 

Hoyt, T. A Feb. 10 

Hoyt, W Mar. 9 

Hughes, D. C Aug. 25 

Hulburd, M May 24 

Hulst, Geo. D Oct. 22 

Humphries, E Oct. 15 

Humpstone, J Nov. 27 

Huntington, Bishop . . . Oct. 1 

Huntington, W. R. . . . Mar. 13 

Hutton, M. H Jan. 19 

Ingersoll, E. P Mar. 3 

Ingham, Bishop June 1 

Jacobs, H. E Sept. 14 

Jeffrey, R. T. . . . . Jan. 12 

Jennings, W. B Oct. 6 

Jessup, H. H Apr. 29 

Jones, R. W Sept. 3 

Junkin, W. F. .... . Aug. 17 

Kelley, W. V Apr. 14 

Kellogg, S. H Feb. 7 

Kephart, Bishop .... Oct. 7 

Kerr, J. R Sept. 7 

Kerr, R. P June 30 : 

Kidd, R. W Nov. 12 ! 

KlEFFER, J. S July 20 i 

King, H. M Jan. 6 ' 

King, J. M May n 

Kingsbury, O. A Dec. iS 

Kittredge. A. E Dec 26 

Klopp, D. E July 16 I 

Knox, J. H. M July 17 j 

Koenig, R Mar. 20 

Krotel, G. F Aug. 11 I 



Ladd, H. M Mar. 2 

Landis, J. P Nov. 13 

Lansing, L J Dec. 7 

Lansing, J. G May 20 

Leavens, P. F Oct 28 

Leavitt, G. R Mar. 21 

Lee, E. T Mar. 15 

Locke, W. E May 31 

LONGACRE, A July 29 

Lowry, R Dec. 19 

Ludlow, J. M June 19 

Lupton, J. W June 20 

Mabon, W. V. V July 15 

MacArthur, R. S. ... July 13 

MacCracken, H. M. . . Mar. 26 

Mackay, A. B Jan. 22 

Macloskie, G Jan. 11 

Manchee, W Oct. 27 

Mandeville, G. H. . . . Feb. 4 

Marling, F. H Aug. 6 

Marquis, D. C May r7 

Martyn, C Sept. 8 

Masden, C. P Sept. 23 

McElroy, 1. S Aug. 23 

McEwen, H. T Sept. 16 

McKenzie, A Feb. 15 

McVickar, W. N. . . . June 2; 

Meredith, R. R Apr. 9 

Merrick, F June 18 

Meyer, F. B Apr. 18 

Miller, A Apr. 10 

Miller, D. R Sept. 25 

Milligan, J. C. K. . . . July 30 

M'Leod, Thos. B Feb. 22 

Moffett, R July 4 

Moment, A. H Jan. 26 

Moore, E. C Dec. 12 

Moore, Halsey .... Aug. 29 

Morgan, D. P Dec. 22 

Morris. E. D Oct. 31 

Mott, Geo. S Jan. 20 

Munhall, L. W Oct. 5 

Nall, R. H Aug. 7 

Neil, J. W June 14 



390 Alphabetical Index of Names. 



Nelson, T. A. . . . . . Oct. 9 

Nevius, J. L. ...... July 24 

Newton, F. J May 19 

Newton, J Mar. 5 

Newton, W. W May 30 

Niccolls, S June 24 

Nicholson, Bishop . . . July 11 

Niles, Bishop . . . . . Dec. 31 

Noyes, G. C. June 21 

Offord, R. M Feb. 29 

Ormiston, W. . . . . . Aug. 4 

Otts, J. M. P June 15 

Page, W. W Sept. 2 

Parkhurst, C. H. ... Mar. 23 

Parmly, W. H Nov. 7 

Parsons, H. M Mar. 27 

Paxton, J. R Oct. 26 

Paxton, W. M May 22 

Payson, G. S Nov. 30 

Penick, Bishop Jan. 31 

Peschau, F. VV. E. . . . July 7 

Phillips, W. L Dec. 3 

Pierce, B. K June 27 

Pierson, A. T Mar. 19 

Pitzer, A. W June 11 

Plumb, A. H June 2 

POCKMAN, P. T NOV. II 

Pogson, M. H Nov. 23 

Potter, Bishop .... Dec 1 

Potter, E. N Feb. 20 

Powell, H. A Sept. 4 

Power, F. D June 22 

Prime, Wendell .... Jan. 9 

Ramsay, J. S Sept. 21 

Rankin, J. E Apr. 28 

Reading, J. H Oct. 11 

Reed, E. A May 2 

Reid, J Dec. 17 

Reinke, A. A Aug. 12 

Remensnyder, J. B. . . . Mar. 16 



Riddle, M. B July 8 

Riggs, E Apr. 6 

Riggs, H. C Oct. 20 

Riggs, J. F May 15 

Roberts, W. H Sept. 27 

Rosebro, J. W Aug. 21 

Rossiter, S. B Apr. 23 

Rowland, A. J Feb. 19 



Sabine, W. T Jan. 18 

Sample, R. F Mar. 8 

Sanders, H. M Feb. 28 

Saphir, Adolph .... Feb. 24 

Sawyer, J. E. C Dec. 11 

Schenck, C Oct. 4 

Scott, W. N Sept. u 

Scudder, J. L Nov. 14 

Searles, W. N Aug 20 

Shedd, J. H Feb. 2 

Shindler, R Apr. 24 

Shuey, W. J Nov. 3 

Singleton, H. L Sept. 24 

Smith, J. T June 9 

Smith, T. R Dec. 24 

Smoot, R. K Aug. 31 

Smyth, G. H Nov. 17 

Sommerville, R. M. . . . July 3 

Spaeth, A May 12 

Spurgeon, C. H Dec. 25 

Staple, M Jan. 29 

Stearns, L. F Apr. 19 

Stimson, H. A. . . .' , . Feb. 8 

Stitt, W. C Dec. 29 

Stoddard, C. A May 9 

Stoddard, E. L Apr. 3 

Stratton, J. B June 4 

Strong, J June 29 

Stryker, P Feb. 18 

Sunderland, B April 1 

Sutton, J. F Nov. 22 

Swartz, J Apr. 25 



Talmage, G Mar. 31 

j Talmage, J. V. N. ... May 10 
I Talmage, T. D Jan. 3 



Alphabetical Index of Names. 391 



Taylor, Wm. J. R. . . . May 26 

Taylor, W. M Jan. 1 

Terhune, E. P June 3 

Terry, R Sept. 19 

Tewksbury, Geo. A. . . May 28 

Thoburn, Bishop .... Nov. 1 

Thomas, W. H Nov. 4 

Thompson, C. L. ... . Aug. 27 

Thwing, C. F Jan. 17 

Tiffany, C. C Apr. 26 

Tiffany, O. H ' . Oct. 3 

Todd, J. E Jan. 27 

Trible, J. M Nov. 25 

Trumbull, D July 6 

Twitchell, J. E Feb. 13 

Tyler, B. B July 18 

Tyler, J Feb. 27 

Underwood, H. G. ... Aug. 1 

Van Cleef, Paul D. . . May 13 

Van Deventer, J. C. . . .Dec. 20 

Van Dyke, Henry . . . Jan. 16 

Van Horne, D July 28 

Vass, L. C Dec. 14 

Vincent, M. R Aug. 10 



Virgin, S. H 








Warfield, B. B. . . . 


. Jan. 13 


Warren, Bishop . . . 


. Aug. 26 


Warren, E. W. . . . 


Jan. 14 


Washburn, G 


• J U 'V 31 


Waters, D 


. Dec. 2 


Watts, R 


. Mar. 25 


Weaver, Bishop . . . 


. Oct. 25 


Whdekind, A. C. . . . 


. Nov. 29 


Wells, J. D 


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